Love of friends
by Blackcat8610
Summary: New chap: Sappy tree friends. As the title suggests, this chap is sappy, and personally a little heartbreaking. But only the best do you all deserve after my achingly long hiatus. Official postage time of 4 a.m. Enjoy and R&R Please. IK MS.
1. In the beginning, there was fluff

Love of friends

Chapter 1: In the beginning, there was fluff

* * *

BC: Ok, as of 9/30/2006, the first chapter has officially been re-done! Yes… it's partly a shameful ploy to get more people to read, but I've never fully been happy with it. Now I hope I can get this monkey off my back… 

…

BC: (Smashes monkey-on-back in the head with a coffee mug) Darn you evil monkey! Go back home to HADES! (Chases monkey around room, throwing various heavy objects) WHY DON'T YOUR AVERAGE FECAL-FLINGING MONKEYS COME TO CALL, IT'S ALWASYS THE ONES THAT TRY AND GET YOU TO DO SOMETHING!

QJP: Uhh… BC's not in her right mind just now…

PLP: When is she ever?

QJP: Right…

PLP: BC doesn't own Inuyasha, but maybe…

QJP: She owns the monkey?

PLP: Sure, why not.

* * *

Kagome Higurashi was having a little trouble getting to sleep. Quietly, she had managed to slip away from camp. She hadn't wanted to accidentally wake anyone… though she was starting to wish she had. Summer wasn't that far off, but she still almost felt chilled sitting along the bank of a dark and quiet river. But that was just her imagination.

Suddenly, she's hit with a wave of loneliness, and a few unbidden tears roll down her face. "What's wrong with me…" Futilely, she wipes at her face, but the stream doesn't slow. 'God… why does he always make me feel like this? Not matter what, he always does something like this. And no matter what that jerk tells the rest of us about wasting time, even a hint of her and he goes running. Why do I even waste my time here? He's told me plenty of times to just go home!… but I don't think I could live with myself if I did. And I can't let the others down, any little bit of help matters! But… he doesn't have to always yell like that! Why do I even bother to love him…'

Kagome's breath catches in her throat and she gingerly places a hand over her slightly parted mouth. Her eyes go wide in shock. "Love him?" she tilts her head to look a little farther out to see the crescent moon's reflection in the water. 'Do I love him? I... I think I _do_! I do love him! But… why him? Why Inuyasha?'

The moon fazes out and what is left, is different memories of Inuyasha. They were projected onto the water as if it was a screen, Inuyasha being sat, yelling, pouting, and then all of the smirks. The images were unnerving to poor Kagome; she had to get rid of them. And with a quick swipe at the water, nothing was left but the moon's reflection once again.

'Oh God. What am I going to do? He loves Kikyo… not me…' All her thoughts come to a complete stop at a touch on her shoulder. She turns her head to see the worried face of none-other then Sango, " Are you all right Kagome? You really should be asleep now."

She mentally shakes herself, "Huh? Oh… yeah, I'm all right." She looks back to the dark water, no visions of an angry hanyou this time. Instead, she was picturing one of the rare times he had let something slip through his jerky self. She smiles inwardly at the memory and, though it was just for a split second, the impact of it had left the memory fresh and untainted in her mind.

* * *

(Flash-back)

At this point in time, the group was traveling through a forest. They had been for a while. Their only rest for that was short and had left Kagome steaming, fuming, ticked off, and a few other dozen words for really mad at someone they had happened to meet. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

Inuyasha walks beside the peeved girl. He didn't look happy, but then again he rarely did.

"What is it now wench? And don't yell like that… it's enough to burst my ear drums."

"HE HAS... sorry Inuyasha. But, he's finally hit my last nerve! One can only take so much from him!"

Inuyasha lets out an annoyed sigh, "Kouga? Feh. You don't seem to mind the _"great"_ Wimpy-wolf so much to me."

Well of course she had been peaceable to him. He had a kind heart… but when he absolutely set his mind to something, there was no stopping him! The thing was, she had set her mind to something too. And just because she was, 'his woman', she wasn't going to stop because he wanted to make sure she'd stay safe. And who said she was 'his woman' anyway! Kagome's steps slow, and she snaps at Inuyasha. "Oh yeah? What do you want me to do? Let you kill him?"

"Well, yeah..." It seemed simple enough to him.

"Sorry... no way dog-boy. That's just wrong. He may get on my nerves... but not enough to let me let you kill him."

"We would have more shards... besides, dead wolves can't annoy. No matter how annoying they are." He grits his teeth, "And I'll let that 'dog-boy' go this time."

Even though she was getting away with something like calling him 'dog-boy' had stunned her, it didn't stun her as much as the simplicity of his answer did. And in her state right now, she couldn't help but agree that it did ring slightly true. "Well... I... I guess I can't argue with that. And it might actually stop him from referring to me as his 'woman' all the time... but it's still not right! And _you _know it!"

Inuyasha looks to Kagome from the corner of his eye, a small smile gracing his face. It was almost unnoticeable. And just after, he changes it to an all-knowing smirk. But it was too late, Kagome had already seen it.

"Inuyasha..." She blinks confusedly, "What was that for?"

"I finally got an argument to stop without a 'sit' in it. That gives me plenty of reason to smirk."

"No... Just before the smirk. Was it a...?"

Inuyasha's face contorts to a quick look of shock, almost reaching to the line of terror, and before Kagome could finish, he had interrupted. "Feh!" He jumps up to a nearby tree in the clearing their small group of six had just entered. "_YOU DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING WENCH_! And we camp here, _now_!"

His word law, Sango was almost knocked off Kilala by shock of Inuyasha's voice. Miroku collapses by a tree, his small kitsune rider rolling off while still fast asleep. And as soon as Sango had finally gotten off Kilala, the cat demon changes to her small form and goes to sleep herself.

Miroku manages to push himself up on one elbow, after regaining some strength, "I am not complaining but... just a little while ago, you said we had a long ways to go still... why the sudden change of heart?"

"Monk, you want me to come down there and kick your xxx?"

"Never-mind... you're being very cranky Inuyasha, is it a new moon tonight?"

"I _thought_ I told you to shut-_up_?"

"Merely an observation..."

(End of Flash-back)

* * *

"Kagome? Kagome! You don't really seem "all right", to me..." 

"I'm... sorry Sango. I was just, lost in thought…"

"What did he do this time?"

"Oh! Umm… err… Miroku got just a bit too close earli..."

"I'm not talking about Miroku, Kagome. And I think that bump _was _an accident. Even though a misplaced accident. Knowing him, he was aiming for me, and not you. That didn't stop Inuyasha from almost killing him though ."

"Uh… Shippo once again went looking through my clothes for candy and tore out my..." she nervously swallows, "under-clothes..."

"And I don't mean Shippo either. Also… I think your screams of what an embarrassment it was to have him do that will make him a little more careful the next time."

"Well… err, um Kouga..."

"Ok, now you're just pulling at loose strings. We haven't seen hide nor hair of Kouga for a couple weeks. Besides… you know quite well that I'm talking about Inuyasha."

"No really I... Are you sure you want to know?" The shake of Sango's head gives her little encouragement, but still she tries to go on. "I... I... I think... th-that he's... s-stolen..." She lets out a large sigh, not wanting to finish.

"You can tell me Kagome. I _am_ your friend, right?"

"Right. I think he's... stolen my heart."

* * *

BC: Darn it! I don't know if he's just hiding, or gone for a while! 

QJP: Well, are there any other parts you want to fix?

BC: Err…

Monkey: (Makes monkey sounds from a ways away)

BC: (Runs after noise) COME BACK HERE YOU BANANA SLINGIN' MENACE! WHEN I GET THROUGH WITH YOU, YOU'RE GONNA HOPE ALL THE REST OF YOUR KIND KNOW SIGN LANGUAGE. JUST LIKE THAT GORRILA WITH THE KITTEN! KOKO!

QJP: (Sweat drops) Uh, I think I'll take that as my answer.

PLP: And I think that might be an empty threat. I mean, she did hit the thing with a coffee mug… and it's still alive!

QJP: Review, for BC's sake of mind. What's left of it, anyway.

BC, over and out!


	2. Sango's say what?

Love of Friends

Chapter 2: Sango's say _"what?"_

* * *

BC: As of 9/30/2006, this has been another re-done chapter! Aren't I just _so _great?

QJP: See, I told you that monkey would make her write more.

BC: WE DO NOT SPEAK OF ZEE MONKEY!

PLP: Yep. It may annoy her, but the monkey is also helping getting more reviews. So it can't be all bad.

BC: You know… I'm starting to get the feeling they aren't paying attention to me…

QJP: Let's find the monkey and give it a banana!

PLP: And we can tell it about what we don't like in BC's fics!

QJP: Let's go!

PLP/QJP: (Leave room)

BC: --;; Traitors… I hate that stupid monkey. It casts some sort of spell on everyone, I swear. Well, I don't own Inuyasha and company… but my plans for world domination are going well! If only people I know would stop asking for their own freaking countries… at least they promise to pay royalties. R&R Please and thank you!

* * *

Sango shakes her head, unsure of what she had heard, "You think he's _what_?"

"I think he's... stolen my heart?"

"Kagome, I think you're supposed to _know_ if you feel that way about another."

Kagome sighs and with her head sitting in her hands, stares into the water once again, "I know... but, at least I'm not the only one unsure about my own feelings."

"What _do_ you... I have no idea what you're talking about."

Kagome gets a mischievous grin on her face, "Yes you do."

Sango turns away with her arms crossed, "Nope… sorry."

"Come on Sango, I shared… and now it's your turn. That's how friendship works, and we _are _friends, right?"

"But! I... oh." Sango sighs, "Fine!" She moves up some to sit right next to Kagome looking displeased with herself, "Maybe... the lech isn't, _so_ bad. Nothing more then that."

"Ah-_hah_! _I knew it_! Sango and Miroku sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Kagome… I think that's more likely to happen to you. I mean, it _is_ Inuyasha that spends most of his time in trees. Not Miroku."

Kagome starts to blush, "No, no, no Sango, It's just a song from my time. What would even make you think that I would _try_ to kiss Inuyasha? I mean, half the time my heart jumps to my throat and my knees turn to jelly when he is just nearby… God! I'm being driven crazy!"

"Well, at least your heart isn't usually broken when he's near..." says Sango somewhat wistfully.

Their girl talk continues for another hour or so and when they finally rise to leave, the night, was at it's darkest.

"Kagome, maybe we should start heading back. Who knows what Inuyasha might do if he wakes up and you're missing."

"Oh... yeah, he might explode if his precious "shard detector" isn't in bed. He'll probably think I went back home." She gets up and starts to stretch, "I don't know _how_ I'm gonna tell him tomorrow, that I have to leave."

Sango follows suit in standing, and starts dusting herself off. "You have to? It wouldn't be to go to school, would it?"

"Yeah. It's only for a few hours, but I have to say good-bye to my friends. Maybe I can tell Inuyasha that I'll stay for most of the three months of summer here..."

"Maybe. Though, I'd suggest making it last minute so he has no way to stop you... isn't it my turn to cook next week?"

"I think so, why?"

Sango starts to walk on the path back towards camp with Kagome following close beside her. "Just thinking... I really don't like cooking while on a journey. You may have to leave at any time, it's harder to find good food, not paying attention could easily burn parts of it... It is just a hassle I could do without. Not to mention that rain can easily put out the fire. It was easier cooking in a hut for my... family and myself.

Kagome, sensing Sango's thoughts had turned to her brother and father, decided to lighten the situation some. "Huh... that's not going to happen till you and Miroku get married, so looks like you won't have to wait too long."

"_Kagome_? How could you say that..."

"I'm just kidding Sango. But you did give me an idea. If I offer to cook for your week, will you back me up in getting to my own time?"

"Did you really need to ask?"

"Nope, you'd do it even if I didn't suggest cooking for you."

"Yes, but now I have something to gain other then your happiness."

"Thanks. Now then, I think we were on the subject of a certain perverted monk..."

"No, I think we left off talking about you and, what did you call him the other day...? Oh! 'Mister Fluffy Ear-boy', instead..."

As the two get farther away and continue to poke fun to embarrass one another, a small shadowy figure pokes, what could be a head, up from the bushes along the path. In a flash, the figure is standing on the path, though still encased in shadows. Soon after it is by the edge of the water and able to be seen as Shippo.

The small fox demon sits to be able to think over all he had seen, however little it was. "Those two were sure in a good mood. _Why_ couldn't I have paid more attention to them and not to that moth? Maybe Inuyasha's right on me being just a runt… though him getting anything right would surprise me. If I wasn't so much younger then everyone else, maybe I'd understand why they all act so... goofy."

He sits there, continuing to wade through his problems, by tallying causes of them on his fingers. "Sango stares at Miroku. Kagome stares at Inuyasha. Miroku going off and meditating by himself almost constantly... though he stopped when I told him Sango had started getting worried and was going to ask if his hand was bothering him. Even Inuyasha's been distracted, pouting or just trying to 'go into the forest and think'! AND NO ONE'S TELLING ME WHY!" He folds his arms managing to look like a small, pouting Inuyasha. "I mean, they're _all_ acting like those stories my mom and dad used to tell me about when they had...first...MET! That's _it_!" He hops up with his find. "THEY'RE ACTING LIKE WHAT MOM AND DAD DID WHEN THEY FELL IN LOVE!"

Shippo stops his excited bouncing to stick out his tongue and make a face, "Ewwwww they _like_ each other... _gross_... So much for _me_ being the stupid runt, none of _them _even have a _clue_! This… is gonna be good. I'm going to have a _lot _of fun!" He takes the time to look up to the moon, while being filled with glee. Soon though, he felt like kicking himself when he saw just where the moon was in the sky. "I'll be dead before I get back if I don't hurry… I just hope Kagome saw my note!" He then rushes off down the path and towards camp.

* * *

With Kagome sound asleep and Shippo quietly trying to make it through dense vegetation, Inuyasha was clueless to everything but the girl under his branch. The one he was planing to sleep on. He had no worries of the missing fox demon though. Inuyasha just figured that Shippo was somewhere off by Sango so he could sleep near Kilala. And, in fact, was quite happy for it. 'Without that runt right here, there's no one to point out me watching over Kagome… and everyone else.'

Luckily, Shippo had enough sense to go about carefully, just to make sure that he wouldn't be seen. As Inuyasha moves like a cat to lie on the branch, without disturbing even a single leaf, he also manages to position himself right above Kagome.

'I am one lucky dog, as Kagome says, though I'm not a dog so I'll stick with I'm one lucky fox. Inuyasha'd have my tail if he caught me spying on him!'

After some minutes the dog-eared hanyou lets out a small sigh and starts to get back in a sleeping position. As luck would have it, one missed step leads him right to a branch that lets out a tremendous snap, that instantly wakes the sleeping girl beneath.

"What the..." Kagome looks above, but with it being so dark, misses the hanyou that was just feet away. The fire was long gone. She walks over groggily to the trunk of the tree, "Inuyasha? Was that you? Just _what_ are you _doing_...!"

"I'm sorry Kagome, I did that by accident..."

Kagome turns around to see the small fox demon scuffing his feet in shame. "Shippo? What do you mean?"

"I was trying to sneak around so you wouldn't wake up and be worried."

"Where have you been off to anyway?"

Shippo looks to her in confusion, "Didn't you get my note?"

Kagome looks to him tiredly before finally muddling through what the young demon in front of her had said and holds up a scrap piece of paper, that undoubtedly had once come from her bag, with a tree drawn on it. "You mean _this _thing?"

"Yeah… is something wrong with it?" He then starts to give her a sad look, "I thought it was a good drawing... I didn't have a lot of time, but I tried my best…"

"No, no, no. It's a _great_ drawing. But… what's it supposed to mean?"

"That I had to go and relieve myself."

She pauses for a moment. "Really?"

"Yes!" He starts to act huffy about the whole thing, "_What_? How else should I tell you then, _hmm_?"

She starts to shake her head and laugh, "Shippo, maybe tomorrow I'll teach you to write 'Bathroom' or something... but right now, I'm too tired to. So lets just get to bed." Kagome then walks off to her sleeping bag, waving for the young Kitsune to follow.

"I'll be ready to sleep soon. I just want to stay up a bit longer..."

"All right Shippo… but just a few minutes, ok?" She climbs in her bag, soon drifting off to sleep as Shippo looks up to the sky.

Inuyasha, once again able to move with no worries of the girl he was protecting spotting him, moves to a comfortable position so he can wait out Shippo. 'Unbelievable, the brat managed to save my hide by accident... who'd… have thought it?'

All of Inuyasha's thoughts slowly come to a halt as he takes a closer look to the "brat" that had a very wide smile on his face. This same "brat" was looking up and straight into his very own eyes, a look of pure mischief scrawled across his face. And for once in his life, he was just a little scared of the small fox before him. Thankfully for Inuyasha's mental health, the young demon had gotten bored with terrorizing him with stares that told of much embarrassment in the future, and had begun trotting over to Kagome to fall asleep close by her. As Inuyasha watched him snuggle up close he couldn't help but think one thought, 'Oh xxxx! He knew I was awake...'

* * *

BC: So. I'm left all alone now…

Baka-chan: (Enters) Hello!

BC: (Yelps and falls off chair) What the heck are you doing here?

Baka-chan: I had nothing better to do… besides, QJP and PLP are around here somewhere. And I want a word with them. (Holds up sign that says "Please eat me!") Luckily I found this before I went too far into Bear's Woods. I almost fell into a pit of honey.

BC: Umm… right. (Points out door to next room) They went that way looking for a monkey.

Baka-chan: Embrace the monkey… be the monkey. See you later BC! (Runs off to find QJP and PLP)

BC: I don't want to hug that monkey... uh, and in hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have told QJP and PLP about that property I bought for another FF lair in Bear's Woods. Or my trap 'The portable honey pit'. One of these days, infomercials are gonna get me in trouble.

BC, over and out!


	3. Lunacy of the Lambs

Love of Friends

Chapter 3: Lunacy of the Lambs

* * *

Monkey: (Is running around, throwing wads of paper everywhere) 

BC: (Eyes closed, chanting) Must… embrace… monkey! Must… _be_… monkey! Calm… cool… collected… (Twitches slightly, screams while running towards monkey and grabs the monkey in a hug)

Monkey: (Screams, hollers, and shows other signs of unhappiness. And then he disappears.)

BC: Oh my god… Baka-chan was right?

Baka-chan: You say that like I'm always wrong!

(Crickets chirp, cows moo, and then a tumbleweed rolls by.)

Baka-chan: Will you knock that off?

BC: Oh umm… yeah sure. Uh, I don't own Inuyasha and the gang, ok? So… _yay_! No suing for me!

Baka-chan: (Trips inexplicably) Ah my ankle!

BC: Crap, lawsuit… and so you know, this is a redone chapter as of 9/30/2006. R&R please.

* * *

The next mourning, Inuyasha had gotten up some time before everyone else. He decided to take a walk, since sleep seemed useless. He hadn't really slept much the night before. Inuyasha had been too busy thinking about what Shippo could have seen, could have even _thought _about that night. If Shippo had seen him watching over Kagome from the treetops, the fox-demon could even be thinking that Inuyasha had some feeling in his heart for Kagome. It was true… but Inuyasha wasn't even about to tell himself that, let alone acknowledge it to the smaller full demon. Walking about would give him a chance to cool down, and think of a cover story if he was tattled on. But he didn't seem able to calm himself. 

"Dxxx that Shippo! Just when I get the chance to be so close to Kagome without her notice..." He stops, realizing his words with his very own ears, 'What the hxxx am I saying? She's a shard detector, a wench! But...' His thoughts halt with a shake of the head, "Stupid fox. I can't even think straight, the perfect time to do some training."

He goes a little farther and reaches his destination, a small river that wasn't too wide, and not too deep. "I'll stay here. No doubt someone will be by in a while to tell me breakfast is done. Then we can head out to the latest shard rumor. They're always so slow though, it'll probably be another hour or so after that."

Quickly he takes off his haori and the shirt underneath, and sets his sword by a large tree nearby. Inuyasha then unceremoniously tosses the jacket and shirt, to hang on the tree's branches, and rushes forward to the water.

When towards the middle, he stops to let the water settle, and watches it, waiting for his "prey". It doesn't take too long for the darting fish to return, and not too soon after that, he spots it. A large fish... a _huge_ fish! Not really, but if he told the others his tale, that's what it would be. It might not have been big... but it looked strong, and quick! Or at least good enough to give him a small challenge.

Silently he waits for the fish to swim nearer... and nearer... then he attacks! Quickly he lunges forward. Now the fish was grasped in his hands, wriggling for freedom. He lifts it above his head in triumph, letting a number of drops land on his muscled form. He could feel it's struggle, could _feel_ it's death thrash, could _feel_ it trying to breath in this "air" so foreign compared to it's usual water. He could _feel_ it's slowing movements as it gave up hope and was slowly being suffocated. And it enthralled him. It excited him. It... He drops the fish, soaking himself with the splash it had left in its wake.

He was disgusted with himself, the world, but nothing compared to how he thought of his demon blood at that moment. "My stupid half brother always says my human blood soiled our demon lineage but..." His arms drop, useless at his sides, "Ever since the Tetsusaiga broke… Sometimes I can't stop what I do. I don't even have to change full-demon anymore for differences! And what if...?" His thoughts carried too the others, what if he tried to kill Miroku, Sango, even Shippo, what if...? "I ever tried to hurt Kagome?"

A stifled gasp, and instantly Inuyasha turns to look at bushes behind him. Then there's an "Eep!" and he can hear crashing and the sound of someone running away. He takes a few careful steps foreword, he knew those feet, and he knew them all too well. And he wasn't happy about whose they were, either. With a few none too pleasant words under his breath he starts to go retrieve the jacket and shirt he had left behind, "I'm sure that was Kagome, I'd stake Tetsusaiga on it but why...?"

"Was she so scared?"

He stops in mid step. It was a voice he had been dreading since the night before. It was a young voice, a small voice. With a swift turn of his head to the right his fears were revealed, Shippo...

"What was that?"

Shippo stands there slowly rocking back and forth with his hands behind his back; "I was finishing your sentence. You know, "I'm sure that was Kagome, I'd stake Tetsusaiga on it but why was... she so scared". That's what she seemed to be to me..."

"And just _how_ long have _you_ been there?"

He smiles cheerfully, "Long enough." With that said he walks to the water, lifting the cuffs of his pants along the way. And though his attention is on the shallow water and his fox feet, he still continues, "Poor Kagome... I bet I know just what scared her too."

"What ever it was..." His hand reaches for Tetsusaiga, "I'll..."

"I wouldn't if I were you."

"Oh _yeah_? Why not, just _what_ do you think scared her? "

The small fox demon looks to Inuyasha giggling slightly while holding up his pant cuffs, "Well, I think it might be you."

"Wha-what?" Inuyasha was a bit taken aback, could Kagome have been frightened at the incident with the fish? Had Shippo seen it, maybe even heard him? He didn't know but he couldn't believe Kagome to be scared of _him_, of _all_ things out there.

Shippo carefully watches the silent battle of Inuyasha. He could tell Inuyasha had taken it wrong. What ever had happened before he arrived must have been bad for the hanyou. "Inuyasha, I don't know what you think I meant, but I'm talking about how you look right now. A half naked half demon would scare lots of people!"

Inuyasha blinks slowly. Before Shippo could react the dog eared half demon was holding him up by the tail, "A half naked half demon would scare lots of people... what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Well think about it Inuyasha, how would _you_ react if Kagome walked by wearing one of those "bathing suit" things she told us about?"

Inuyasha thinks a moment, imagining such an encounter, his eyes widen, and a very small blush starts creeping across his face.

"See? You'd be as scared as Kagome!"

"Oh _yeah_? And what would _you_ know?"

He looks away from Inuyasha, "A lot more then you, it seems."

"Hrr!" He turns and starts walking out into deeper water, "You're gonna know a lot less once you're under this water!"

"No, _wait_ Inuyasha! You can't do that, I don't swim good!"

"Feh, should have thought of that sooner." He then plunges Shippo into the water up to the base of his tail and when he thinks Shippo's breath is running out, lifts him up for another dunk. He may torture him at times but Inuyasha was _not_ going to let that kitsune die. Kagome would probably sit him to death and take away his ramen and many more horrible things he didn't want to even think about happening. Besides, Shippo wasn't so bad all the time, just really annoying.

With his new breath Shippo shouts as loud as he can, "KAGOME HELP..." Inuyasha dunks him under again, "... INUYASHA'S DROWNING ME!", and gets dunked again. The hanyou lifts up the sputtering kitsune to stare at his face, a smirk creeping across his own, "There's no way Kagome could save you n..."

"Inuyasha!"

"Kagome? SAVE ME!"

"What the...?" Inuyasha turns hearing the sounds of branches being pushed out of the way. How could she run so fast? She was only human... he turns to look at the fox kid in his hands. That was right, mothers turned crazy when their children were in danger. Not that Kagome was Shippo's mother; she just acted like it at times. She probably would make a good mother one-day... What _was_ wrong with him? Kagome was coming and she was a little scary when mad. He might not voice it out loud, but he whole-heartedly agreed with the others. But now was really not the time to do that, was it?

Kagome bursts from the trees, out of breath from all her running. It didn't help that she lost it even more at the sight of Inuyasha. 'Oh my God... just look at him!' She quickly shakes her head and thanked her lucky stars the half-demon couldn't hear her thoughts. Besides, her task was at hand; she had to stop that dog demon from torturing Shippo. With an opening of her mouth she was ready to scream Inuyasha's subduing word, but for one problem. She could not seem to find her voice. Besides, anything she could say would come out fast and nervous… but she _had_ to stop Inuyasha before he accidentally hurt Shippo. So, swallowing her pride she closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and hopes she didn't say anything stupid. "Inuyasha... pleaseputShippodownonthegroundsafelyNOW uh… thank you." While exhaling her breath and taking another, she thanks her lucky stars again and makes a hasty retreat. So as not to look too suspicious, she shouts behind her about her and Sango searching for herbs. Not even Inuyasha could catch much of it though.

"Huh?" This was definitely _not_ part of Shippo's plan. Inuyasha was supposed to be sat, and repeatedly, too. _Why_ was Kagome running? "KAG-O-ME!" Inuyasha was _definitely_ gonna kill him now. What was a fox demon to _do_?

With his gaze still on her retreating figure, Inuyasha was shocked. He had gotten through this whole thing without a sit. Something had to be wrong with her, very wrong. And he was surely going to find out what it was. Tossing the kitsune in the general direction of camp, Inuyasha starts to follow Kagome. That is, until the humorous tone of another familiar voice reaches his ears.

"Now, now, my half-demon friend. If you rush about like that, you will very likely achieve the wrath of who you plan to seek."

Inuyasha turns to face the owner of the voice, who just happened to be leaning against the tree he had previously tossed his jacket and shirt on, "Just great. Now the monk has come to say his thoughts as well!"

Miroku slowly straightened from his position. He was in no real hurry, and a chance to taunt Inuyasha could _never_ be taken lightly. Neither could one for Sango, but that was because she could cause as much damage as an angry hanyou. "Inuyasha, Kagome is fine."

"Err… WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WAS WORRIED ABOUT HER?"

The monk smiles in knowing, "You had gotten that heroic look that you do when Kagome needs to be saved. Or, of course, when Kikyo does. But I didn't happen to see her soul collectors about..."

Inuyasha just stares, mouth slightly agape.

Miroku lets out a small laugh, "And I also happened to catch that little conversation between you and Shippo."

Inuyasha walks over to the bank Miroku was on. With his back to him the hanyou sits in his usual pout position. "Stupid monk."

"Come now Inuyasha. I was instructed to come and find you by a young lady you happen to know. You know, the one that 'scares' you?"

In a fluid motion, Inuyasha manages to turn as well as propel himself just inches from Miroku. His clawed hand rests against the tree, just above Miroku's shoulder. "What was that again?"

He just grabs the hanyou's jacket and shirt, and tosses them at their owner. "All in good fun Inuyasha, all in good fun."

Inuyasha just stares at them for a bit before putting the undershirt on. "All in good fun my..."

Miroku starts to walk away. "Come on Inuyasha. Breakfast will be cold if we don't hurry. Besides, you'll receive enough sits for throwing Shippo who knows where."

Inuyasha starts to follow. "Naw, that brat will find his way back."

"Whatever you say. Though we don't want Kagome to be mad, as _well_ as scary at you, now do we?"

"Just keep it up, monk! You _may_ just live to regret it."

"Maybe. Though Kagome would probably be the one to give out punishments." A very distracted look appears on his face, "I just hope it involves Sango, me, and a hot spring."

"Ugh. Stop drooling you lech. You really disgust me at times..."

"I am not drooling! I am a Monk, I do not drool!"

"Could have fooled me."

Miroku opens his mouth, ready to say something, but then seems to think against it. He instead sighs and leans toward Inuyasha. "Listen…" He sticks out his hand, "what do you say to putting a halt on all this good-natured bantering. We have made no progress with it. And if we are to go look for shards of the Shikon jewel, we may want to leave before sunset, all right?"

Inuyasha stares at the hand before reaching for it. "Fine, and I won't tell Sango about that last disturbing thought of yours."

Miroku stops and bows, "I would very much appreciate that. I'm afraid Lady Sango would most likely kill me if you did."

"Feh, it would probably be no less then you deserve."

Miroku walks as fast as possible to catch up with Inuyasha, and slows a little when he finally does. "All the same, she would."

Inuyasha smirks, "Now look who's scared."

"Ah yes, and yet... there is something so appealing about her.

"You are hopeless."

* * *

BC: (Is helping to bandage Baka-chan's ankle) What was with the inexplicable tripping, anyway? 

Baka-chan: It was inexplicable… how am I supposed to know?

BC: Oh… right.

QJP/PLP: (Enters)

PLP: BC, I thought you hated that monkey! Why'd you give it a hug?

QJP: When Baka-chan said "embrace the monkey", I don't think that's what he meant…

BC: Yeah I know… but I thought it might work, so I gave it a try.

PLP: In other words, you got bored with the monkey plot device.

BC: Oh yeah… sooo bored with it. Oi Baka-chan, you're not going to sue me for the inexplicable tripping, are you?

Baka-chan: No… my leg doesn't even really hurt.

BC: Then why in the heck am I bandaging it?

Baka-chan: I don't really know…

BC: (Stands up, and kicks Baka-chan's outstretched leg)

Baka-chan: (Grabs leg) _Ouch_! What was that for?

BC: Now I bet your leg really does hurt!

QJP: I think that would be why he said, "_Ouch_!"

BC: Uh… I knew that? (Shakes head in dismissal) Just… someone review…

BC, over and out!


	4. Kagome goes KABOOME!

Love of Friends

Chapter 4: Kagome goes KABOOME!

* * *

BC: Well, redone since 9/30/2006, and now that the monkey's gone…(Trips inexplicably) What the heck? 

QJP: (Walks over) BC, are you al… (Trips inexplicably) Huh? What just happened?

BC: I-I don't know! This happened to Baka-chan last chap. too… Oh no!

QJP: What?

BC: Inexplicable tripping must be contagious!

QJP: Maybe… wait. (Raises one eyebrow) You mean it's like a disease or something?

BC: You got a better idea? Sneezing is, hiccups can be, even songs stuck in people's heads on occasion! Why not inexplicable tripping?

QJP: Well really, how often after one person trips over nothing do you see another person trip over nothing?

BC: Well…

QJP: BC, you don't count. You're just clumsy!

BC: Point taken… I don't own Inu & Co, but this story is mine. So please read on, enjoy, and review…

QJP: While we try not to fall on our xxxxx anymore…

PLP: (Enters room) Hey… what are you guys doing on the floor?

BC: Run PLP! We're…

PLP: (Trips inexplicably) What did I trip on?

BC: …contagious.

PLP: Contagious with what?

BC: We'll explain in a bit…

* * *

Kagome was back at camp, furiously pacing back and forth. She was so distracted that she never even heard Shippo's complaints. She _had_ noticed that he seemed to have a lot of branches and leaves in his hair. But she wasn't worried, he had probably been climbing trees or something. He had walked off after having his say, whatever it was, to go play with Kilala. 

Sango had been silently watching her friend's nervous actions since she had first begun, but she couldn't stand it any longer, "Kagome! You're going to make a trench if you continue to walk in the same spot over and over again."

"I know Sango, I know, but..." She sighs. Why did today have to start out so stressful?

Quickly Sango walks over, and grabs a hold of Kagome's shoulders to put an abrupt stop to her pacing, "Just remember the plan. You went to find Inuyasha and...?"

"A spider scared me?"

"Come on Kagome, once more. You went to find Inuyasha and...?"

"A… spider scared me."

"You would be more believable if you weren't fidgeting so much."

"I can't help it." Kagome slowly sinks to the ground, "I was standing there like a complete idiot, just watching him, fishing… more importantly, _why_ was he not wearing a shirt?"

Sango squats down, hoping to console her, "I don't... wait, he was fishing? You didn't mention that…"

"And then he just drops it, and starts talking about his demon blood taking him over, and about the Tetsusaiga! And then he pauses, and suddenly says, 'What if I hurt Kagome?' Why did he say something like that?"

Sango had decided to let the interruption go, Kagome was probably too stressed out right now to realize. "The problems he has with his demon blood taking over are probably never too far from his mind. And in that state he can hurt _anyone_..."

"Why was he worrying about me though? I-I was sure that he didn't like me _that_ much, maybe as much as Shippo. And in the beginning he _hated _me and really did think that I was only something to find the shards. But… maybe he does care some about me…"

"I'm pretty sure he likes you more then Shippo. Those two fight like brothers, while you and him fight more like you're..." Married was the word she was looking for. But Sango wasn't quite sure how Kagome would react to it, considering her state of mind just now. It didn't really matter anyway, Kagome had decided to burst in right then with her own self-doubts.

"What am I saying here? He only cares about Kikyo! Who am I really trying to kid? He loves her."

"Kagome, you're..."

"I'm an idiot… a love-struck idi..."

Sango stands up suddenly, very upset. "Kagome, just _stop it_!"

Kagome blinks a few times, stunned. "Sango, what..."

"Hold on just a minute, it's my turn to interrupt! Why are you sitting here, worrying so much? You have too much to think about!" Sango starts to walk around, arms flailing, "Your head is just about ready to explode, and _then_ what will you do about school? _Then_ what are you to do about Inuyasha? _Then_ what about all this time spent on stories about… about _spiders_? Spiders, of all things to worry about! There's too much!"

Kagome starts to laugh at the intent absurdity of her friend's actions, "You're right. I just about had a total meltdown. What was I thinking?"

Sango grabs her head as if she had a bad headache, "Not this again…!"

Kagome makes her way over to her friend, laughing all the way. "Thanks for snapping me out of this whole thing."

"Well, I would hope you would do the same for me…" Sango smiles, "… if I was acting as silly as you were."

"I am _so_ glad right now to not be completely surrounded by guys at a time like this. I could just imagine Miroku saying something almost philosophical and then bluntly suggesting all my problems would go away if I bear his child. And _then_ he'd probably grope me. And I don't want to even imagine getting advice from Shippo…"

"Well you know… you could always talk to Inuyasha about your feelings."

"Sango, don't _even_ joke about a thing like that."

"Why not? You seem to not mind _your_ jokes, but _mine_..."

"I guess we have been taking it a bit far… I mean, could you imagine it if Shippo or the guys heard us?"

Sango turns stiff as a board, her face going a little pale at the thought of what that would be like. It was an encounter as shaking as finding a monk, inches away from your face, after being half-drowned. "I… I think the food is getting… cold..." She then hurries over to the fire, set on here 'task' to get it hotter.

Kagome just watched, head shaking as she tried to hide her mirth.

* * *

Food finally assured to be hot, and finished, Kagome starts to call for the small kitsune boy and the demon cat, both of them still missing. They were probably off playing hide-and-go seek. It might not have been such a good idea to teach Shippo that game. Oh well... 

"_Kagome_!"

"What the...?" Before Kagome could even find the source, she was easily knocked over by the ball of orange that had just called her name. "Shippo! Calm down."

"Did Inuyasha come? Did you sit him?" He looks around quickly, "I didn't miss it, did I?"

"Shippo!" The young demon's questioning quickly stops, though it had already been heard by whom he had wondered about. Inuyasha then picks Shippo up and sets him down nearby. " Can't you find something better to do then trying to kill Kagome?"

"Ahh!" Shippo quickly covers his head, and was ready to slow the blow to his noggin… the one that never came. Peaking under his hands, he spots Inuyasha calmly sitting by the fire… he seemed a little distracted. That was fine with him, just as long as he wasn't getting hit.

Kagome walks over to Inuyasha, her arms folded. She seemed displeased on the outside… but inside, she was still pacing the ground. "Inuyasha, you know… you really deserve to be sat."

Inuyasha lifts his head to her. Maybe Kagome was fine… but he just couldn't shake the feeling she had heard him. If she had, would she want to sit him? Maybe… or could he of imagined it? She might have a reason to sit him, which had nothing to do with that fish and her. But he just didn't know… he looks back toward the fire. "Really? I didn't do anything." He keeps watch on her from the corner of his eye, so she wouldn't notice him looking for any lies. But would she even?

"Yes you did! You would have gotten sat earlier for what you did to poor Shippo if I had any choice." She reaches down to feel the young demon's clothes, "You're soaked to the bone still, aren't you cold?"

An over exaggerated sniff and shiver later, and Shippo was in Kagome's arms. "A little." Finally, he was getting some attention. Kagome had ignored him earlier, _now_ Inuyasha would get his punishment. He tried his best not to smirk. It was hard to manage, but he did it.

"Feh! I did nothing wrong, he deserved it...Oh, yeah, and just what stopped you from Sitting me before, huh?" Inuyasha knew he was walking on thin ice, his tone was usually enough for _that_. But, if he made her angry enough, she might let something slip. Too bad he didn't realize just how thin the ice he was stepping onto was.

"What _stopped _me?" She drops Shippo off to sit wrapped up warm in a blanket by the fire, "The power that stopped _me_, you idiot, was something called nature! _I_ went to go find you since _he_…" She points a menacing finger to Miroku. And though the monk tries to sidle out of the way, it still continues to follow. "… was taking his own _sweet_ time. And _what_ do I do? I run smack into a spider web is what! I _hate_ spiders! _But_, I wasn't planing to let you drown Shippo! Even if he _is _a full demon, you _still _could have killed him!"

During this explosion of anger, a few notable things had happened. Miroku had taken up a hiding spot behind Sango, clutching her shoulders and muttering that he would rather have his hand be the cause of his death and not Kagome. If that in itself wasn't enough, he didn't even have the smallest inkling of groping her. He was just trying to put someone else between him and Kagome. Someone that wasn't to be a vent for her rage.

Sango, too, was a bit frightened. Kagome was now pointing at her. Though she knew the ranting girl had just followed the monk, she couldn't help but feel she would be yelled at as well.

Shippo had his mouth covered in shock. He had never seen Kagome this mad. Even Inuyasha didn't deserve _this_. He should have been more careful for what he wished for. Now Shippo just hoped that he didn't get thrown into the conversation as well.

None of them were more shocked then Inuyasha though. He stood there, slack-jawed, he never even fully realized that he had stood up. "I wouldn't have let Shippo drown!"

Kagome looked to Inuyasha and gazed a hard glare at him and began to speak. She was no longer yelling at him though, instead she had seceded into a quieter form of fury. "Not that long ago, you were more worried about the Shikon jewel and a Carrion Crow then you were about whether a young villager, that had done nothing wrong but be in the way of a hungry demon, would live or die. Is there any difference between that situation, and this?" After having her say, Kagome spins on her heel and heads off for the well, intent on going back to her own time to cool down. Her blood had boiled when Inuyasha tried to tell her he had done nothing wrong, even when it was so obvious he had. And… she couldn't help it.

After a few minutes of stupor, Sango unhooks Miroku's hands from her shoulders and takes a quick survey of the destruction. Kagome had just single handedly caused their plan to burst into flames. If she was going to figure out what had happened and get any questions answered, she had to catch Kagome before she went home. And if she had any chance of that left, she had to _run_.

* * *

'It can't be too far…' Sango paused, looking around for anything that would help her locate the well. She knew if she found Inuyasha's tree that it would be close by. Now she just had to find the forest it was in. Rushing into Kaede's hut gave her _some_ idea of which way to go… though not enough of one. 

"The forest still holds the demonic power of Inuyasha. If ye follow that, ye will get there soon enough. Ye just need to follow yer instincts." Not quite the answer she wanted, but the old miko wouldn't give another and there was no _time_. She ran out of there as fast as possible, what was Kaede thinking? Searching for demonic power was not one of her strong points, it wasn't like she was a Miko! She was a demon exterminator! Sure, she could sense it enough to know when she was under attack… but that was just because of training! But she couldn't… even believe it.

Jaw dropping in surprise, she could see the top of the stupid tree. She gives her head a shake, "I just hope she hasn't left yet..." and runs toward it. Though time was wasted, she might make it there. But Kagome could already be in her own time. Things weren't turning out so great…

* * *

Kagome stood starring at the bottom of the Bone eaters well and gripping onto the edge. She was still trying to think if leaving really was for the best. She knew in her heart, that yelling at Inuyasha like she had was wrong. What she had done wasn't really fair, it wasn't his fault... 

"Kagome! There you are! I'm so glad I caught you."

She stands still as Sango approaches, only half realizing the presence, "Sango..."

"Kagome, why did you go off like that on Inuyasha? From what you told me, he just needed a Sit, not to be beaten down by your words..." She stops, hearing a small sound from Kagome. Sango didn't need demon senses to know she was crying. "What's wrong?" She slowly walks up closer, and feeling useless. She couldn't do any thing… because she didn't know any thing. It was almost like she was suddenly Shippo, not sure what was going on with all of these strange problems of older companions. It was a little distressing… she had to remember to give the fox boy a treat later. But that still didn't help her present situation. She still couldn't help.

"Sango it's just... what Inuyasha said was..." Kagome turns around and leans against the well, sinking to the ground with her hands over her eyes. She didn't want to see, didn't want to hear, she wanted all the terrible memories… everything… to just _stop_...

* * *

BC: Don't you guys think that was a really cool place to end? It just gets ya (Puts hand over heart) right there. 

PLP: Yeah yeah, wonderful place to stop… you're a writing genius. Now you mind telling me what you're contagious with?

BC: Inexplicable tripping.

PLP: Oh… WHAT?

QJP: You know… unexplained falling?

PLP: I know what it means!

QJP: Sorry.

PLP: You should be!

BC: Guys… don't fight with each other!

Baka-chan: (Enters) What's going on?

BC: Fight with him! He started all this!

QJP/PLP: BAKA-CHAN!

Baka-chan: Uh oh! That's my que…exit, stage right! (Runs)

QJP/PLP: (Both get up. Both inexplicably trip.)

BC: Uh… yeah… don't forget to review!

BC, over and out!


	5. Return of the King, no, of Kagome!

Love of Friends

Chapter 5: The return of the King err Kag... Noooo, the return of Kagome!

* * *

BC: 9/30/2006 I'm in the process of getting out chapter 16 and decided to take some time to revamp the first 15 chapters again. 1-4 was done a long time ago, but I stopped before 5. Now I'm doing it!

QJP: So... no more inexplicable tripping?

BC: Nope nope. I think that year long break cured it.

PLP: In other words, it was another plot device you became bored with.

BC: Ah... heh heh. (Hand on back of head) Maybe. By the way, a couple chaps back, you two sent Baka-chan to Bear's Woods, _and_ took my 'portable pit of honey.' Didn't you?

QJP: Yeah. But he wasn't eaten. He found the sign before he could be.

Baka-chan: (Has been in the room the whole time) I'm right here, you know!

PLP: So?

Baka-chan: Grr.

BC: There aren't really any bears. It was just named that so that no FF Truth or Dare writers would want to buy it.

QJP: How would that stop them? It sounds like the perfect place to force anime characters into playing a game and trying to not get eaten.

BC: Well see, a long time ago the legend went that the bears can't be controlled by writers because some writer brought in bears to protect against rabid fan-girls. It was also said that some of these bears escaped and held grudges against the FF community. Thus making the FF writers prime targets for vengeful bears.

PLP: Ah, so why'd you buy it?

BC: I had a TorD fic before, remember? I figured it'd be a good place for my lair, but now it's been abandoned. I like my new Lair, _this lair_, better. More room, and the Cricket Army is happier here.

Baka-chan: Wait, that was _your _property!?

BC: Uh... uh... (Drops portable pit of honey and enlarges it)

Baka-chan: (Falls in) Guahhh! Gurgle... gurgle...

BC: (With British accent) Will he float, or will he sink?

QJP: BC, what are you copying?

BC: (Pushes pointer fingertips together) I show called Brainiac. They do all sorts of nifty experiments. Involving thermite and chemicals and...

QJP: Actually, I don't want to know.

BC: Ok, R&R please!

Baka-chan: Help! Gurgle...

* * *

Kagome was sobbing hard now. She was far past crying, but Sango knew... this wasn't for Inuyasha. This was something... devastating. Whatever was clenching at Kagome's heart, filling her with pain, was deeply felt. She knew it. She had felt it herself when her brother... now wasn't the time for her past to come up. "Kagome... why are you like this? What's wrong?"

Kagome finally manages to compose herself. She felt numb, and _really_ didn't want to talk about it, "It's... it's nothing. Why would you think there was something wrong?"

Sango steps forward, pointing to her face. "Really Kagome, do I look that much like a fool? You have me confused with another, like Miroku. Or maybe Kouga? Though you could think I was Inuyasha... no, wait a moment. The other two make more sense. They have dark hair at least. Even if Totosai was half blind he could tell the difference between us... now will you speak?"

"Sango, It's not anything... I just _can't_..."

She sits down calmly, and wasn't one to be deterred. Not now at least, "You are either going to tell me right now or, and I mean this, I will tell Inuyasha _just_ how you feel about him."

Kagome turns to stare, eyes puffy as well as wide in shock, "You wouldn't dare!"

"Do you really want to take the chance? A lot can happen if you run off to your own time..."

She lifts her hands in defeat, "All right! You win, but... you might not understand."

"I do not need to understand... just to know."

"You sound like Miroku... no wonder you love him so much."

Sango folds her arms, "Kagome... you are changing the subject. I'm not about to fall for _that_ trick."

"Fine. Well..." She leans back to look up at the sky, "It's a... a memory. From my past..."

"Yes... so far I still understand."

Kagome looks to her friend and away from the pleasant blue above, "I thought you wanted me to talk?"

"Oh, Kagome, please continue... I didn't mean to interrupt."

She lets out a sigh, "Sango..."

"I am just trying to help. I thought an antic might raise your spirits, I do want you to continue."

Kagome lets out a small smile, "It happened when my brother... well, he was still just a baby. I wasn't too old either, probably around Shippo's age. We were at a relative's house for a big family gathering, and I had just learned to be unafraid of water. I was so happy; I could swim like the "big kids." I was standing by the pool watching the light shining off..."

"A pool?"

"It's like... a lake, though a lot smaller. People make them near their homes."

"Ahh..." Sango gives her head a shake; she still didn't get it.

"I was by a deeper end and... was pushed into the water. I couldn't breath, couldn't shout... all because of a stupid toy..."

"Toy?"

"A cousin of mine said I lost it. When I denied it, he got... upset, and pushed me in. I didn't know what to do. I got scared and started breathing in water. Then I passed out. When I woke up, people were running all around in search of an amb... someone to help, my Mother was holding me in her arms while on the ground. My Grandfather was saying some sort of charm. He hasn't stopped believing that they work. I can still see the relief in their faces when I woke." Her eyes had a hard look in them, "I could hear that cousin... he said I deserved to get all wet. He laughed, didn't see how much danger I was in. I deserved it for what I did to his toy."

"Kagome..."

"What? You think I'm dumb for getting mad at Inuyasha?"

"It was, unfair..."

"He's the unfair one, what he did to Shippo..."

"Kagome, taking your anger out on someone else is not a good thing. Inuyasha didn't push you under."

"But..."

Sango shakes her head, "Kagome what you said... it bothered him. It wasn't like a Sit... but like taking an arrow and slowly cutting him from the inside out."

"Why? He _did_ worry about the jewel more!"

"Kagome, even Miroku has seen Inuyasha's heart widen. He's helped people before without your "gentle" proddings."

"Gentle proddings?"

"Fine, Sits... He comes up with bad excuses and puts up a fight, but he _still_ helps them."

Kagome lets out a reluctant sigh, "I... I know Sango. He still tried to drown Shippo though."

"He did. Well, are you finally ready to make up with him yet?"

"I'm... going home for a bit. I need some time to calm down. And maybe something special... I gotta run Sango!" The words freshly out of her mouth, Kagome hops down the well leaving a bewildered Sango in her wake.

The demon exterminator scrambles to the edge calling out to Kagome, but too late. She was well into her own time.

* * *

Sango walks back to the camp slowly. There wasn't much else she could do. Inuyasha wasn't the type to start sobbing and begging for information. He'd probably do no more then sulk. Fighting through vegetation, she stops on the verge of camp. There wasn't a sound to be heard. Stepping closer, Sango saw Inuyasha sitting on the ground with his back to her. She was about to go over when she felt a hand grab hold of her arm that was both pleasantly and unpleasantly familiar.

"Sango... it may not be the best thing to do."

She turns to the monks face sharply, "Why do you say that?"

No answer was needed. As soon as Sango had turned, she saw why. Shippo was embedded partially into a tree not too far away. He was upside-down and a distance from the ground. "Did Inuyasha really do that?"

Miroku gives a nod, "Indeed. He insisted on trying to talk to Inuyasha and his remark was taken badly..."

"What did he say?"

"I believe it was, "Wow Inuyasha. Even _you _didn't deserve _that_!" Afterwards I tried to speak with Inuyasha... but no matter how I tried, I was ignored."

"Remind me not to..." She stops, her attention diverting.

Miroku blinks, "Is something wrong, Sango?"

Sango tugs at her arm, a bit angry. "Why won't you let go?"

He follows his arm still clutching at her wrist, "Ahhh!" He drops it in a heartbeat, "I am sorry... I didn't realize. My attention was on other things."

Sango turns away slightly, blushing. "It's...alright r-really."

"Uhhh... Owwwww."

The demon slayer's head turns, "Oh, Shippo!" Sango rushes to the young demon's side. "Are you alright?"

Shippo may have slid down the tree, but he wasn't ready to get up just yet. "I... think so?"

Miroku looks to the girl his thoughts were centered on forlornly. "Are you sure or not? Inuyasha _did _hit you pretty hard."

"Of course I'm fine! I'm not a baby you know."

Miroku walks over, standing over Shippo. After a bit, he rights the Kitsune to a sitting position.

"AHHHH! OWOWOWOWOWO...!" Shippo grabs hold if his head and kicks his feet in pain.

"Yes, I can see you're well."

"Meanie... oh!" Shippo stands and starts to run in the direction of the well, "Kagome!"

Sango lets out a sigh. "Good."

Miroku turns to her, grin on his face, "And here I thought you liked children."

"What? No! Shippo isn't the problem. Now Inuyasha..."

"Ahh. Then you may be able to help me." He grabs hold of her hands and pulls her up, " I know I have asked before, but now that I am positive you want children. Will you bear my child?"

Sango's face reddens, her hands clench, a vain throbs in her forehead, and Miroku's on the ground after being hit with Hiraikotsu. And all in the span of four seconds, "You never learn… do you?" (BC: Typed in something good here… but it was for a one-shot in progress. Oops…)

"Hey... did I miss something?"

Sango turns to see Kagome with her blue (much smaller compared to the yellow) backpack slung over a shoulder, and Shippo on the other shoulder with his bump wrapped and a sucker in his mouth. Sango can't help but feel grateful, "Not that much."

* * *

Baka-chan: (Wrapped in a towel and still very covered in honey) Honey. Why did you drop me in_ honey_!?

BC: To see if you'd sink or float?

Baka-chan: I know that! You said it right after you made me fall in!

BC: Look, I promise. I will never, ever, _ever-never_, drop you in a pit of honey again. I wouldn't of let you die or anything. I just had to test it out _once_, and I couldn't do it to PLP or QJP. They'd have killed me.

Baka-chan: Well, next time, use someone else. I'm not your guinea pig. I'm gonna use your shower. Cricket 13?

Cricket 13: (Hops into the room) What do you want... (His eyes widen as he stares at Baka-chan and licks his lips) H-h-honey?

Baka-chan: I hope you're not _calling _me that.

Cricket 13: (Clears throat) Not at all. Did you want something?

Baka-chan: Yeah, could you send some of the Cricket Army to get me some clean clothes? Your _Boss_ decided to do something stupid, and I'm the one that paid for it.

Cricket 13: Sure.

Baka-chan: Thanks 13. (Climbs upstairs)

Cricket 13: (Grabs hold of BC's collar) Please Boss! _CANDY_!!!

BC: (Hands over sucker) There.

Cricket 13: Joy! (Hops away)

BC: I wish I did have more people to trick and have fun with...

Voice: I'm not going to be your newest target, but I may be able to help plan things.

BC: Oh no! The voices! They're at it _again_!

BC, over and out!


	6. The sweetness of fireflies and Smore's

Love of Friends

Chapter 6: The sweetness of fireflies and Smore's

* * *

BC: (Hidden in one of the many closets, armed with nothing but a flashlight shining under chin and a bad Kirk/William Shatner impression) Lair date, FF 9.30.2006. The voices. Are. After me again. They're. Closing in. It's. Horrible. I don't. Know. What they want from me. But. They. Always seek me out. So. Please. Read. And review. Or fear. The. Consequences. Also. I. Don't own. The. Inu-charries. But. I. Wish I did. It's all. Khan's. Fault. KHAAAAAN! (Echoes. Then covers mouth) Fudge muffins. Now that voice is gonna find me!

Voice: Actually, I've been here the whole time.

BC: GUAAA... (Starts to scream, but stops as flashlight turns off from fall) Wait. Why can't I see you?

Voice: Well, it's dark!

BC: No, I mean before the light shut off.

Voice: You may have had a flashlight, but I didn't.

BC: No I... Grr. (Flings open door in frustration, letting in lots of light. Though the closet is illuminated, one corner is still encased in shadow) Oh my God! You're...!

* * *

"Really..." Kagome scratches her head, "Then… what happened to Shippo, why is Miroku face down in the dirt, and where did Inuyasha go to?" 

"That's easy enough to answer. That idiot Monk asked me to bear his child... again. Shippo went up to Inuyasha and told him... what was it you said?"

Shippo lightly touches his bump and frowns, "Even _you_ didn't deserve all the yelling you got, Inuyasha?"

Kagome shakes her head and kneels so the young fox demon can get down, "So. You're against me too? "

"No, of course not Kagome! But... you might have hurt feelings."

Kagome sighs and hangs her head. "I might have, Shippo. But it was only because I was worried about you." She rests a hand on his shoulder. "And now because of me, you're hurt."

"No. It's my own fault. And I'm not that hurt. I just _really _shouldn't have bothered him when he was so upset." Shippo looks up at Kagome's face seriously, for the moment at least. "And I think you might be the only one that can make things right with him. Because he wouldn't listen to me."

Kagome was a little stunned at Shippo's grasp of the situation, but smiles all the same. "I... I plan to Shippo. Do you know where he is?" Wordlessly, he points over his shoulder. Kagome looks up, and spots Inuyasha sulking some ways away. "I really should have seen him." This is spoken mostly to herself. She then hesitantly straightens up, "Might as well get it over with..."

Sango gives her a slight smile. "You would have noticed if you weren't so reluctant to."

Kagome adjusts the straps of her blue backpack, a little indignant. "You're starting to sound like Miroku again."

"Just go over to him." Sango gives Kagome an encouraging push, but she still moves slowly. This was not a conversation Kagome was looking forward to.

Miroku finally breaks away from his thoughts. "Wait, were they just talking about me?"

Shippo sits down nearby, his face free of worry. "You know Miroku, not everything is about you."

* * *

As she makes her way over, Kagome braces herself to be chewed out by Inuyasha. Especially since he didn't have much of a chance to start _before_ she ran off. But when she approaches, all he does is stare straight forward and ignore her. "Inuyasha?" She stands in front of him, but the hanyou just reacts by closing his eyes. "Come on Inuyasha, talk to me... please? I can't tell you how sorry I am." Nothing. He was completely stoic, and Kagome was beginning to feel a little frantic. She crouches by his side and whispers, imploring him to listen with every ounce of her being. "Inuyasha... please." His ears twitch as they pick up the soft sound... proving he hadn't suddenly turned deaf. "Sit."

Inuyasha face-plants right then and there. _Now_ he was steamed... he stands up spitting out a bit of dirt, "What do you want wench? I thought you'd finally gone home for good! Now you come here and Sit me for no reason?"

"I-I'm sorry. I panicked. But... you wouldn't talk to me. I had to do something. I came back to apologize and you didn't even pretend to listen."

He folds his arms and looks away. "Why would I listen to you? I mean, 'I don't care if anyone lives or dies,' remember? Why would I care what you'd have to say?"

Kagome looks to her feet, hand on the back of her neck "Inuyasha, I'm sorry. What you did wasn't that bad…" She pauses and corrects herself. "Well, it was bad but… you didn't deserve what I said to you. I blamed you for something that had happened to me. And I just... couldn't stop my temper. It was such a stupid thing to blame you for too..."

Inuyasha turns to look at Kagome, head to the side. "Why would you blame me...?"

"I'm sure it's noting you'd want to hear, besides. It's too hard to explain..."

"Oh no. You're going to tell me so that if it happens again, I can show you how it's _not _my fault."

Leaving no other choice, Kagome once again tells her tale. And reveals to Inuyasha that it was his haughty "I didn't do anything wrong" defense that had set her off. "Just trust me when I say, I didn't mean a word of it."

"So the spider-web...?"

She quickly jerks up her head, "No, no, no. _That_ I meant."

"Oh..." He was actually hoping she had recanted that part of her story too. But it was the only thing she'd stuck with.

Kagome gives the half demon a weak smile. "So Inuyasha... can you ever forgive me?"

He sits there, deep in thought. He then asks a very important question. "That depends... did you bring back any Ramen?"

She playfully swipes at his arm in false outrage, "Ramen... _that's_ going to decide whether you forgive me or not. I _did_ bring back something special though. Will that be good enough?"

"I guess..."

"Well, come on then!" Kagome grabs Inuyasha's forearm and starts to drag him back to the others, when she thinks of something, "Hey, Inuyasha?" She slows down, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

"Hurt my...? Feh! _You_ couldn't hurt me if you tried... other then that dxxx Sit command. And those times you hit me over the head with a rock."

"I'd like to believe you... and would if you were Naraku. But you're not, so I really am sorry."

"Where would you get the idea my "feelings" were hurt anyway?"

"Oh, a little birdy said they might have been."

Inuyasha stops, and brings Kagome to a complete halt. "When the hxxx you start talking to birds?"

She sighs, "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"So what if I did?" Asks Inuyasha. A smirk upon his face.

"KAGOME!!! Can I have some of the brown board snack now?"

Kagome looks ahead to Shippo, 'How did he know about the chocolate? Wait…' She almost smacks herself, 'Demon sense of smell.' "Shippo! Not another word about it."

"But…"

"It's for a special surprise, ok? And you don't want it ruined."

"Alright. If you say so Kagome."

"That's right, I do. Now can you take us to Sango and Miroku? They _seem_ to have forgotten about us."

Shippo starts walking slowly, in disappointment, back through the trees. Inuyasha and Kagome follow close behind. "I don't think they forgot you... they just wanted to make sure you apologized."

"Wait a second you stupid runt. If they wanted to make sure she'd apologized, wouldn't they have come _spying_ instead?"

Shippo turns around quickly, his eyes welling up with tears, "I don't know! Kagome, Inuyasha's being _mean_!" He leaps up to her, throwing his arms around her neck.

((BC: Dang… don't you just wish Inuyasha would do that once? Well… maybe not the leaping part. Kagome'd probably freak and end up Sitting him on her. _That_ wouldn't be good.

"Shippo, I don't think he's trying to be mean."

A "What?" was echoed by both Shippo and Inuyasha.

"I think it's supposed to be like a nickname, some sort of… friendly way to kid with you."

Shippo starts laying on the sarcasm, "Oh yes, that's as friendly as wench, or bi…"

"SHIPPO!" Kagome interrupts.

"What?" he asks cluelessly.

Inuyasha is about ready to die laughing, he'd be pushing up daisies if Shippo had finished his sentence.

Kagome turns to the hanyou a seemingly unfathomable anger flashing in her eyes... but then she smiles, "What are you laughing at... he's right." This, of course, gives off the desirable affect of stunning the hanyou. "Now Shippo, can you finish showing us were those two are?"

Shippo jumps down and walks around the clearing, "This _is_ where they were..."

"Those two... COME OUT!" Inuyasha, in his displeased state, growls, "I knew it... that monk is always spying... Sango too... the snoops..."

The familiar sound of skin hitting skin reverberates through the air.

Inuyasha turns to the noise, "There you are!"

Sango walks out from the trees. Miroku follows a ways behind, a red handprint on his face. "My friends... we have been looking for you."

Inuyasha snorts, "More like spying."

"Ahhh..." stalls Miroku.

Sango interrupts him, "You have a surprise for everyone, don't you Kagome?"

"Oh... that's right!"

Shippo lets out a loud "Yay!" and Kagome giggles at him. She crouches down while opening her backpack and Shippo rushes close to it. "This first parts just for you Shippo!"

"Really Kagome?" His eyes were wide in excitement and wonder.

"Yep!" She lifts out a jar and hands it to the young demon, "It's almost dark enough now... try to catch as many fireflies as you can." She unscrews and re-screws the jar, showing off how to use it. "And when they start to fly out before you can add any more in, bring me back the jar, okay?"

"Got it!" He starts to run off in his glee, but slows suddenly. "What are you guys gonna do?"

"They're going to help me set up the surprise for everyone!"

He stops fully, head tilted to the side, "But then how will it...?"

"Don't you worry about it Shippo. It'll still be a surprise, you just take care of the fireflies."

He shrugs and continues to walk away, Kagome stands up and takes charge, "Ok, now we need to build a fire..."

Miroku steps forward, hand print almost completely gone, "May I ask why?"

Kagome shakes her head with a clever grin on her face,and wags her finger at him. "You certainly may not."

"We're eating diner so that we can wake up early and go find..."

"Inuyasha, we deserve some rest..." Kagome turns to look at him with begging puppy-dog eyes, "Don't you think so?"

"Wait... what? No we... shard... but..." He gives up "Feh, wench! You and your resting... FINE!"

"Good! Go over there and get some firewood... you too Miroku!"

Inuyasha grabs hold of the Monk's sleeve, "Feh..." He continues complaining while dragging Miroku behind him.

"Kagome, are we to get firewood too?"

"No, try to find some straight, thin, sticks able to... hold a small fish?"

Sango gives her a confused look, "How small?"

"_Very_ small."

"KAGOME!"

She turns around. Shippo has some fireflies in the jar, about ten. "What is it?"

"They're starting to fly out."

"Oh... it should hold a lot more then that."

"They keep crawling up the sides..."

"Hmm...as you search, shake the jar a little bit so they stay at the bottom, okay?"

"Thanks Kagome!" He turns and continues on his "hunt."

The two girls can't help but smile at the enthusiasm of the little demon. They soon start searching around. After a few attempts, Sango manages to locate _just_ the right kind of sticks. They then have a small pile and Kagome hands Sango a pocketknife.

"What is it?"

"Open it up there..." she points to the ridge that sticks up, "and you'll see. Just, be careful."

Sango pulls out the knife and looks in wonder. "It's a small blade!"

Kagome nods, "Yep. Start sharpening the tip till it goes to a point. But not too much!" She starts to work on her own stick and soon shows Sango her progress.

"Kagome? Why are we making spears?"

"Just trust me. Ok?"

She gives a nod and starts on her own stick. Kagome had finished three and Sango was on her second when Inuyasha and Miroku came back with a pile of wood.

"Happy now wench?"

"Very, thanks Inuyasha."

He turns and walks to a tree with a small snort.

"KAGOME!" Shippo runs closer, a number of fireflies clinging to his jar. "I got some! I got some!"

"That's good Shippo! Come on everyone, follow me!" She picks up Shippo and swiftly walks. Her destination was the hilly clearing that the well was in.

The others follow, not too sure of what was happening. While Sango and Miroku walked behind Kagome, Inuyasha was trailing slowly behind them. "Where in the seven Hxxxx is she taking us?" He starts to speed up, and ends up running right smack into Miroku. The monk stood in awe at all the dancing lights.

Kagome turns back to the others, "I knew this spot would be perfect! Can I see that jar now Shippo?"

He passes it over without a word, it wouldn't have taken him so long to find the fireflies if he had known there were so many over here. He watches as Kagome starts to untwist the jar, "You're letting them out?"

Kagome turns back to the demon and thinks of all the work he put into catching them, "Yeah Shippo. If I don't, they'll die and you don't want that. Besides, this will be fun. I promise." She continues to twist open the jar and carefully catches one firefly and hands it to Shippo, "Keep it safe and don't let it go yet. But don't hold it too hard." She gives each of them a firefly, when Inuyasha starts to complain.

"Why are we doing this?"

"Just do it. You don't want to take out the fun of this for Shippo..." She gives him a glare, "Right?"

She then takes out a firefly for herself and sets the open jar on the ground. They fly out, all at their own speed, and once the last is gone she speaks. "Who wants to go first?"

Sango looks around for a second, "And do what?"

"We take turns letting go of our fireflies and say whatever we want to them. Our own well-wishing messages. Understand?"

Inuyasha gives a half-board look at his hands, "Yeah, but why?"

"It was... something I used to do with my dad. And I thought Shippo would... have fun." She started to tear up some, had she been wrong? The whole thing was starting to seem stupider and stupider all the time. And she had worked so hard to plan everything too...

"No, no, NO! Do _not_ cry."

Sango gives Inuyasha a small glare, "Good one."

Inuyasha turns in shock, "What? I didn't do anything!"

Shippo walks over to Kagome, "I'll go first, this sounds fun!"

She smiles sadly, "I know you're lying... But go on."

"Am not! I have to wish it something really good..." He thinks a moment and then lets the beetle fly, "Good luck... and try not to get eaten!"

Miroku steps forward, "I'll go next, if I may Kagome."

"Sure."

He pauses before opening his hands, "May someone bear your children without relu..." He catches sight of Sango's death glare and lets out a cough, "I mean... I hope you live a long and eventful life!"

Inuyasha tries to hold back a laugh and succeeds with the help of Kagome's own death glare.

Sango steps up, "If you want, I'll go now Kagome."

Kagome gives a nod, they all might have been humoring her, but, at least even Inuyasha kept his mouth closed.

"Hmm. Well, I hope you get back at those that have wronged you and those you know." She lets the firefly go but instead of flying off, it swings back and just misses Miroku. Sango laughs, "I didn't mean you had to start now!"

The others, except Miroku, start to join in Sango's laughter. But even he starts soon enough. Kagome walks to Inuyasha and gently bumps her clasped hands against his arm. "You can go next Inuyasha."

He tosses the firefly out of his hands a bit roughly, "Like I care what happens to some insect." But even he can't resist one thought to it. 'You may be some stupid bug, but you should be the strongest you can.'

Kagome was quite ready to tell Inuyasha off, but she saw him follow the firefly till it was lost in the other beetles flying around. And she knew that he might not have voiced it, but he had wished it well in his own way. It was finally her turn and she knew just what she hoped for the firefly. She slowly opened her hand and the small insect crawled to the back of her hand and flew off.

Shippo looks up to her excitedly, "Well? What did you hope for it?"

"What I always have... happiness. Whatever that may be." She turns to look at everyone in turn, then looks back to Shippo. "That wasn't too bad right?"

"It was really fun catching them!"

Kagome lifts Shippo up and starts leading everyone back to camp, "That was always my favorite part too. You know... my father used to tell me that you could learn a little bit about people by what they wanted for the fireflies."

Miroku moves up to stand next to Kagome and Shippo, "Was that some sort of ritual from your time Kagome?"

"Nope. My dad just loved fireflies... they're the only bugs I can even stand. Guess he passed it on to me."

Sango moves to Kagome's other side, "Are we going to use those sticks now?"

"Thanks for reminding me!" Kagome starts to run back to camp, the others following.

Inuyasha jumps overhead and stops her, "Listen! I've had it with the surprises. What is going _on_?"

"If I _told_ you, Inuyasha, it wouldn't be a surprise!"

"Kagome... THAT'S THE POINT!"

"Just tru..."

"I know, trust you. But WHY?"

Kagome just shakes her head, finishes walking into the camp clearing, grabs her blue backpack and starts a fire. As soon as everyone is sitting around the fire, Inuyasha almost _being_ sat in the process, Kagome passes out the sticks. She realizes she's one short and wonders were the last unsharpened stick is. A meow catches her attention and she sees Kilala holding a long stick in her mouth, "Oh, thanks Kilala." She takes the stick from the small cat demon and gives her a scratch under her chin.

Kilala lets out another meow before walking over to Sango, "You've been sleeping long enough. Why don't you go get fish from the stream to eat, I don't think you'll want what we're having."

Kilala lets out a growl as she changes to her big form and rushes through the trees.

"What _are_ we having anyway?"

Kagome lets out a sigh, "Well Inuyasha. Later on you can have some Ramen if you're still hungry. But right now, we're having S'mores!"

"What the hxxx are S'mores?"

She passes out a marshmallow to everyone and then starts to sharpen her own stick, "First, put the marshmallow on the end. Let the tip stick out, just a bit, through the marshmallow."

Shippo sniffs at his marshmallow, "Kagome! It smells sweet!"

"That's right." She stops sharpening and puts her own marshmallow on her stick, "All right Shippo. I'm gonna pass out some chocolate but you can't eat it just yet, understand?"

"Ok."

"Good. The rest of you can't either."

Inuyasha's stomach growls, "I've had NO food today! Can we _stop_ with the talking?"

"I'll try to hurry then..." She hands everyone a bit of chocolate and two halves of a graham cracker, "Now roast the marshmallow as you would a fish."

They each put their stick over the fire, Inuyasha has a smug look on his face. "This isn't so hard! What the...?" He almost drops his stick, his marshmallow had just burst into flames.

Kagome sets her own stick down safely before swiftly grabbing Inuyasha's and blowing out the flame. "They burn a lot easier then fish."

"Great... now do I need another of these marsh-mellow, things?"

"No. It's okay if it gets burnt on the outside. Sometimes it makes them even better. Here..." She takes the stick and graham cracker and sandwiches the marshmallow and chocolate between it. "There! Try a bite."

He carefully looks at the S'more before trying it. As he bites into it, marshmallow leaks from the sides. "It's... not too bad. I prefer Ramen still..."

"Well, you only had to try it. I'll make you some Ramen now if you want..."

"Are you that stupid? You should feed yourself before you worry about me. The others ate when you left... I can handle these _things_ till you're done."

They all continue to eat their treats. Shippo has so many he's about to pop and Inuyasha gets his Ramen. While he's eating, Kilala returns and helps bring the over-indulged Shippo to clean up with Kagome and Sango while the guys watch over camp.

"Shippo... how did you get _this _sticky?"

"I don't know... uhhhhh..."

"Next time Kagome, it may be best to limit him."

"I think you might be right Sango... oh well, time to clean you up some Shippo." She grabs hold of the fox demon and scrubs his face with a washcloth.

"Kagome! That _hurts..._"

"Sorry Shippo, but we have to get this gunk of you!"

"If she doesn't get it all off, you might end up getting stuck wherever you sleep."

"Ah! I don't want that!"

"You won't have to worry... I think it's all gone... What do you think Sango?"

The Taijiya looks close at the young demon's face, "It seems gone to me."

"Good..." Kagome stands up, "I guess then..."

"Kagome?"

Kagome turns around to find Inuyasha. "What are you doing here?"

"I..."

"Hold on... Sango?" She turns back to see Sango guiding Kilala away from her and Inuyasha.

"I'll see you back at camp Kagome."

Shippo's shoulder is being held by Sango as he's riding on Kilala, "But Sango... I want to watch!"

"Shippo we can't leave Miroku alone at camp... he might try to wander off in search of a village with women."

Kagome lets out a small nervous laugh, she was alone... with Inuyasha... oh dear. She turns back to the hanyou and sees him in a pretty defensive body posture. Arms folded in front, he wasn't looking at her...

"Inuyasha? What is it?"

"Are... are you feeling ok?"

"What?"

"Hrrm..." Inuyasha had one of his clawed hands resting against the back of his neck, "You seemed sick... or something..."

"No... I've just had a lot of things on my mind lately."

"Ah..."

Inuyasha had changed a lot since when they had first met. He was nicer, cuter... this alone time was letting her mind wander. But he was different, and there was something to be done. She walks towards him and stops right next to him.

Inuyasha noticed. He turned to her, arms dropping to his sides, his face clearly plastered with a _what are you doing_? look. Inuyasha's mind is reeling as she reaches up to his shoulders and... grabs the pray beads. He then voices his look, "What are you trying to do?"

"I was just thinking... you don't try to kill me anymore, there's no reason to keep the beads. If you get out of line, I can always toss a rock at you."

Inuyasha couldn't believe it. He was finally going to be rid of these beads? No more Sits... it was something he had wished for. None of the others had been collard like this... he hated Shippo's amusement to his pain. The only time he got a reprieve from _that_ was in Kagome's time. That's when it hit him; he and Kagome are the only ones able to get through the well. If Kagome's connection to the well was the shards of the Shikon jewel, what was his? '_Kagome...'_ The beads were almost up to his nose when he grabs hold of one of her hands, "Stop that! Do you think I'm _stupid?_"

'I'm about to believe it...'

"These stupid things are probably the only reason I can get through the well!" He gives her an accusing glare, "You just want to go to your "test" things without interruption!"

Now that he mentioned it... that was a good idea, "You may have a point..." she drops the beads and, reluctantly, takes her hand away from his. "But I would like the word sit back..."

The beads glow and he crashes into to ground, "Why you...!"

"Inuyasha! I'm so sorry..." She crouches down next to him, waiting for the spell to wear off. "Tomorrow, we should go and talk to Kaede. Maybe she can help so you don't end up..."

Inuyasha winces waiting for the spell.

"Being sat by accident, ok?"

"Feh..."

* * *

BC: (Sitting on couch with Shadowy voice person, both eating popcorn)

QJP: (Smacks BC with a rolled up newspaper)

BC: Hey! What was that for!

PLP: Aren't you going to introduce your newest plot device?

BC: Didn't I do that in the beginning of this chapter? And besides, she's not a plot device.

Baka-chan: No... you just kinda left everyone hanging.

QJP: If she's not a plot device, what is she?

PLP: And she needs a better name. Shadowy voice person isn't going to cut it.

BC: I can take care of both of you. She's my Author Created Character. My ACC.

PLP/QJP/Baka-chan: Then that means... (They all look at each other) YESS!!!

ACC: (Sips pop) Well, they're excited. I guess that's a good thing.

BC, over and out!


	7. School Daze!

Love of friends

Chapter 7: School Daze!

* * *

Queen of the Jean Purse /Princess of the Leather Purse/Baka-chan: (Tears in eyes from happiness) 

QJP: We've been waiting for this for _ever_!

BC: (Annoyed) Aw c'mon guys. It hasn't been _that _long.

Everyone else: ...

ACC: Yeah, even I know that's not true.

BC: Oh... be quiet you. 11/03/06 Is when I revamped this chap, and this one is one of my favorites. So here's hoping it turns out better then ever before. I don' own Inuyasha and co. but I do... er, own my ACC?

ACC: Own? _Own_!? I make my way out of your Lock Box of Ideas, and this is the thanks I get?

PLP: Wait a minute... Lock Box of Ideas?

BC: (Slaps forehead) Crap... look what you did now.

* * *

The sun had not even fully risen... so what was that pervasive noise? It was really starting to irritate Kagome... that loud bell... it hadn't been ringing for too long, but what was it? If she didn't know any better, she'd think it sounded like a... Kagome bolts upright, grabbing hold of the alarm clock. "That's the time!? _No_!!!" She leaps to her feet, and rushes around the campsite. Now where were her shoes? 'Oh, they're on the other side of the fire.' She quickly slips them on, picks up her bag, and almost falls on her face from the sudden weight change. 

Luckily, she is caught by a silver-haired hanyou, "That's one of those... those... why the heck do you have that noisemaker thing here anyway?"

Her alarm clock was still ringing in her backpack. "I'll explain later Inuyasha! Right now I have to go home, get clean, and get ready for school!"

"You are _not_ leaving! I agree to your resting and you plan to take off?"

"Please, Inuyasha..."

"No!"

"Sango... go ahead!" She turns and runs toward the well.

Inuyasha starts running after her, "Hey! Get _back_ here wench! NOW!" He can't get too far before skidding to a halt.

Sango stood in front of him, boomerang blocking the path, "She's offered to cook for my week, just to keep you here... I'm not about to let you through."

"No! She's..." He tries to push Sango's boomerang out of the way but she repositions it in front of him, "...supposed to be resting... She _wanted_ to rest, the only reason I agreed was because that bxxxxxx Naraku's in hiding!"

"Inuyasha... It's important for her to go."

"Why?" He finally turns and goes back to the fire, "She didn't say anything about her 'tests' so why would it be important?"

Sango follows, cautiously, in case Inuyasha decides to make a quick run to the well, "It seems she wants to see friends of hers... I wasn't too sure."

Miroku had been leaning against a tree, quietly contemplating the situation when he finally decides to speak, "Maybe she has given up hope on you Inuyasha... maybe Lady Kagome has found someone _else_ to be her..." He stares intently at the red clothed hanyou, "Mate?"

"Wh-what are you _talking_ about?" He leans over closer and threatens the monk with his fist, "And whatever it is you better _stop_..."

"Miroku..." Sango couldn't help but smile at Inuyasha's reaction, "I didn't say anything _like_ that."

Shippo bounds out from underneath Kagome's covers, "Hey... where's Kagome gone to?"

Inuyasha walks over, leans down, and starts bonking poor Shippo on the head.

"OW! Stop it Inuyasha! I'M TELLING KAGOME!"

* * *

Sometime later, in modern day Japan, Kagome was having her own problems. She didn't have time for her bath, or even a shower. She barely even had enough time to get ready. And now, once again, she was stuck in an unwanted conversation with Hojo... and all because of her so called "_friends_". 

"Uh... Higurashi? Are you positive you should be at school today? You don't seem very well... In fact, you seem a bit distracted."

"Oh yeah, I mean no, I... sorry Hojo. I am a little under the weather. But, I think it might be... stress."

"Ah, we get our grades today. Don't we? I'm sure you did well Higurashi, so there's nothing to be stressful about." He smiles reassuringly at her. "Well. I'm going to class now... but before I go, here!" And hands her a bag of brown goop.

Kagome grudgingly accepts it. "Um, thanks Hojo... what is it?"

"You see, I heard you were having problems with your skin. And in fact, that most of it was peeling off... this helps with dry skin. I have to get class now, but I'll see you later. Bye Higurashi!" He adjusts his backpack and "slides" off to his class in his weird "nothing I said fazes me and we should go out on a date real soon" way, with a wave of his hand.

'Grampa... dry skin? Oh... what am I gonna do with this stuff...'

(BC: just to tell you, Eri has the head band, Yuka has the short hair, and Ayumi has the wavy hair... I _know_ these have been eating at your brains, the "Who is who?" thing. Well thanks to my "The art of Inuyasha book" NOW YOU KNOW...)

Eri grabs onto Kagome's sleeve, "You didn't even say bye to Hojo... did you realize that?"

"Yeah", Yuka agrees. "At least she said thank you to him."

"Umm guys?"

Both Yuka and Eri turn to Ayumi, "What is it?" asks Yuka.

"We're trying to talk with Kagome before..." Before Eri can finish, the school bell starts to ring and Yuka and Eri turn and look to each other before shouting "WAS THAT THE FIVE MINUTE BELL?" in unison.

They rush to their classes and Kagome shakes her head, "Guess we better go too..."

"Kagome?"

"What is it Ayumi?"

She points up and Kagome looks at the sign above the door, this was their class. "Oh..."

Ayumi smiles, "I knew we'd talk to you for a long time... I thought it would be a good idea to be near our class."

"Good thinking."

* * *

By the time the class was over Kagome figured that today was just not her day. Her math teacher had made sure to give her a LOT of practice work for summer... it was good today was a half day, otherwise she'd explode. Her next two classes would have all her friends... not just one or two. She couldn't help but wonder if this would be good or bad. Now what was her next class? Oh that's right... science... good thing the teacher was nice, they'd probably talk the whole hour. That would be when she got her report card too... 

"Kagome, we're here..."

She looks over nervously to her friend, "Ready for report cards Ayumi?"

"Sure... I like school!"

"Kagome! Here you are!" Yuka shouts while trailing behind Eri.

"Yeah, we'd thought we'd wait for you at your last class, but you had gone already."

"If I hadn't, I'd be late for _this_ class!"

"Kagome's right Eri..."

"Oh Ayumi, I'm sure we could have gotten her here on time. It's not _that_ hard."

"I'm more worried about my grades then being late."

"Yuka, you probably did fine! You can stop worrying, now Kagome on the other hand..."

"Thanks for being so positive Eri..."

"Well, you _have_ been absent a lot this year.", says Eri.

They stop their chatting when a cough above their heads interrupts them, "Ladies... would you mind coming into class now? The bell rang a good five minutes ago..."

All four of the girls apologize with a "Sorry Mr. Hitomi..." before running into the classroom. As soon as they had walked through the door, the school bell began to ring. They turn to their science teacher, trying to figure out what was going on, when he begins to laugh.

"I'm sorry Ladies... but I figured a good scare would hurry you in. I couldn't let you all become late on the last day of school!" He gives them a wink, "You might have ended up missing your report cards." He lets out another good-natured laugh before walking to his desk in the front of the room.

Kagome and Ayumi are the first to head to their seats, but they end up having to go back and drag Yuka and Eri away from the door. They were too busy staring at the teacher writing on the board to realize they had been left behind. It seemed most of the female student body was infatuated with Mr. Hitomi, but that's bound to happen with young teachers...

When she gets them to seats in the back of the room, Kagome can't help but start yelling at the two in a harsh whisper. "First you almost get me late, then I have to save you from embarrassment? Ayumi, are you the only one with sense left?"

Eri moves uncomfortably in her seat, "Kagome, you're being kinda harsh!"

Yuka turns away, "We were just..."

"I know... I know..." Kagome sighs. "A lot of stuff is going on in my life. I'm just a bit grumpy, I'm worried about my grades."

"Well duh, so's everyone else." scoffs Eri.

Ayumi gives the rest of them a smile, "I'm not... I'm pretty sure I got A's. Maybe a B here or there, but still pretty good."

"Yeah, but you're the smart one... why cant I be the smart one?", Yuka asks wistfully.

"Ahem?"

They look forward and the whole class is standing in line, most of the girls fighting for the front, with Mr. Hitomi holding a pile of envelopes. "I'm sure you Ladies want your report cards... don't you?"

"Yes Mr. Hitomi!"

"Then why didn't you get in line like everyone else?"

They slink quietly to the back, a number of their classmates snickering as they do. Kagome was at the rear and soon enough, it was her turn for her report card. Mr. Hitomi hands it to her and as soon as she touches it he leans forward to talk to her privately, "Don't worry so much Miss Higurashi."

"I'm not worried."

"You look ready to lose your breakfast. For being absent most of the school year, you have done remarkably well. In fact, a number of your teachers were surprised at just how well you did! I, on the other hand, knew better then to think you would know absolutely nothing by the end of the year. I'm sure your friends must have been a very big help but to do what you have done, you have to be smart. Others in such situations end up dropping out, but you kept at it. I can tell you that I'm not the only one proud of you Kagome, you're a wonderful student and I really hope to see you next year."

This left her more then just a little embarrassed, "Umm... Thank you, Mr. Hitomi..."

"You are very welcome... now, I think your friends have been waiting anxiously long enough, you should hurry to them."

"Yeah... I'll do that." She turns around and almost runs back to her seat, her face was flushed and she knew a number of her classmates were glaring at her. As soon as she had sat in her seat though, she started getting the full questioning from her friends.

"My god Kagome, do you know how long you were up there?" questions Eri.

"You look like a tomato, what'd he say?" asks Yuka.

"He didn't... Proposition you for a way to better your grades, did he?"

"Oh my god! Do you think he would Eri?"

"Well duh... Kagome's not exactly ugly, Yuka."

"I know that! I meant, do you think Mr. Hitomi would really do something like that?"

"I don't know... he might. Besides, why else would Kagome look so embarrassed?"

"Oh... you're right! Do you think we should tell the Principal?"

"Don't you guys want to hear what Kagome has to say before you do something too drastic?"

"What are you talking about Ayumi? We _are_ listening to Kagome..."

"Or, at least we would if she was talking..."

"Guys! Will you stop arguing now?" Interupts Kagome.

"Sure, if you tell us what he did to you."

"He didn't _do_ anything."

"Was he saying he'd give you an A in this class if you would..."

"Yuka!"

"What?"

"I can't believe you just _said_ that!"

"I didn't _say_ anything, you interrupted me before I could finish, Eri."

"Yuka... Eri... all he said was I did well!"

"He took a lot of time for three words."

"Eri... he did say more, but it was all along those lines. Do you guys _always_ have to let your imaginations run wild?"

"They don't run wild..."

"Besides, they wouldn't need to if you would just drop that bad boyfriend of yours!"

"Bad...?" 'Is she talking about Inuyasha? He's not, _that_ bad...'

"Yeah, he is bad news Kagome. It'd be better if you dated Hojo..."

"Or even someone like that Inuyasha guy from your notebook. Then we wouldn't have to worry about you."

'Wait a minute. That _is_ my boy... who they think is my boyfriend. What's going on?' She's about to voice her question when the bell rings. Yuka and Eri hurry out but pause by the door to urge Kagome out of her seat.

"Come _on_ Kagome! If we don't get to the hallway soon, it'll be crowded."

"Eri, we have to go. If we want to see them we have to hurry!"

The two rush off, Kagome knew just where they were going. The boy's lockers were in a hallway separate from the girl's, that didn't stop a number of the school's girls from going down it to look at the guys though. Kagome was reluctantly starting to follow when she noticed that Ayumi was heading in the opposite way. She turns and runs after her, "Ayumi? Where are you going?"

At her name, Ayumi stops and turns around. "I... don't like going down that hallway. It's too... crowded..." She's looking at the floor but Kagome could tell, she was blushing.

"I know you're lying..."

Ayumi looks up, her face a bit redder. "N-no... It's the truth. B-besides, we always end up l-late. It's the long way to get to Language Arts."

"Ok, that _is_ the truth... but not the whole truth. Come on, we can walk and talk at the same time..." She turns Ayumi around and gives her a small push.

"I was heading for a shortcut..."

"Good it'll save time... so?"

"So what?"

"Why don't you want to go that way?"

Ayumi gulps, "I... he, um this guy I... I..."

"Have a crush on him?"

"Yeah..."

"I remember when I had a cold and you guys came to visit, you said something about a guy... is this the one we're talking about?"

"Uh-huh..."

"It's not Hojo, is it?"

Ayumi gives Kagome a shy smile, "I wouldn't be able to handle liking a guy that half of the school likes... it seems pointless to go for someone so wanted. Besides, he's too interested in you."

She lets out a sigh, " But I don't like Hojo in that way. I'd rather be friends..."

"I know. Yuka and Eri seem to be the only ones to not realize... and Hojo of course." She opens up a door and let's Kagome through before following.

"Of course..." She stops and Ayumi bumps into her.

"Kagome? What's wrong?"

She turns slightly and whispers behind her, "We're in the library... I thought we were going through a short cut!"

"We are. Come on!" Ayumi grabs hold of Kagome's hand and starts to drag her along. The library may have been a short cut, but students caught could get into trouble. Even with Kagome's absences she had heard about Miss Damare, the new librarian. She hadn't met her but, from rumors, she was glad for it.

A woman's voice reaches their ears, "Hello? Is someone there?"

"Oh no..." Ayumi had dragged Kagome behind a bookcase and though it was tall enough to conceal them, she still ducked down. "We're in so much trouble now Ayumi!"

"I know I hear students... and if you don't want to be taken to the Principal immediately, I suggest you show yourselves. Now."

"What are we gonna do?"

"Don't worry... now come on!" and Ayumi pulls Kagome from behind the bookcase with a final yank. Now they were in the open...

Light flashes off a pair of large framed glasses on a small pointed nose as the Librarian lifts up her head, her slightly wavy black hair kept shoulder length. "Ah yes... you are Ayumi correct?"

"Yes Ma'am."

She adjusts her glasses, "Then I suppose you already know that taking a short cut through the library is against school rules?"

"Yes Ma'am."

She gestures for Ayumi to come closer to her desk. Once she has, Miss Damare stares at her intently and, after what seemed like hours, she starts to laugh and Ayumi joins in! This really had Kagome confused.

"Oh, Ayumi. It's really good to see you!" She looks over Ayumi's shoulder at Kagome, "I think your friend might want to know what's going on..."

"Good idea." She turns around and grabs Kagome's arm, "She's my aunt and..."

"Your aunt?"

"Yeah..." Ayumi turns back around to her aunt, "Maybe you should explain. I don't think she believes me."

"Hold on first..." She puts her hand to her chin, trying to think. "Hmm... She can't be new, it's way too late in the school year for that. And Ayumi must have told me about her... Ah-hah! You must be Kagome Higurashi, correct?"

She nods her head slowly while being pulled to the desk by Ayumi, "That was a very good guess Miss Damare..."

"Thank you Kagome... why, you look like you've seen a ghost!"

'I've seen ghosts and not been this shocked...' "No Ma'am. I just didn't expect you to be Ayumi's aunt."

"That's understandable, I did ask her not to tell anyone."

"Oh..."

Ayumi's aunt stares at Kagome for a bit longer, "You know... you don't seem that sickly."

"Ahh, yeah, My Grandfather does all sorts of things to help. Charms and stuff..."

"That's right! You live at the Sunset Shrine, don't you?"

Kagome nods her head. "Ah huh."

"Well that must be a wonderful learning experience... some of the items there could belong in a museum."

"Some of it is pretty old..."

"Sometime I really should visit it... but anyway. I have something that I've been meaning to give to you but haven't found the time to meet you..."

She hands Kagome a thick paperback book. When she looks at the cover, she's shocked to see "A Home Guide to Disease" written on it. It looked somewhat old but it was still in good condition, and Kagome could tell it came from the library. "No... I can't except this!"

"Don't worry about it. There's already a much newer version and no one's touched that thing in years. I was just going to discard it, but I thought you might have a better use for it. From what Ayumi has said, you get some really strange diseases... or at least what your Grandfather tells everyone seems strange. I thought that he might be calling what you have something that's more familiar to him, some of the same symptoms but not the actual illness. I find it very hard to believe that you have had gout. Am I close to the truth?"

"Uh... yeah. That's pretty much it."

"Well that book should help him." She looks to her watch, "My God! They turned the bell off because this is supposed to be a longer break, if you two don't hurry you'll be late for your next class!"

Ayumi's jaw drops, "What? Oh no..."

"Ayumi I was planning to visit today, but if you're late, I don't think my sister will be happy to see me. You girls have fun!"

Kagome and Ayumi rush out from the library, "Wow, she's not as mean as I heard."

"I keep trying to tell her that being nice doesn't mean she'll get less respect, but she won't listen."

"Yeah... can I ask you something?"

She slows to a stop and Ayumi joins her, "What's up?"

"How did Eri and Yuka know about my notebook?"

"You mean you don't know?"

She shakes her head and Ayumi looks slightly nervous, "Look at your report card."

"What does that have to do with..."

"LOOK!"

She jumps slightly at the bold order from Ayumi, 'What's going on with her?' And slowly opens the envelope. Math, C... Science, B-... what was she looking for? Then she spotted it, "How'd I get an A in Language Arts?"

"Come on..." Ayumi grabs hold of Kagome's arm and slowly walks down the hallway dragging her behind.

The bell rings but Ayumi still continues her slow pace. She stops at the door and pushes Kagome in. The teacher starts a round of applause and most of the students join in half-heartedly. Ayumi sneaks in behind, and no one in the class even notices. "Kagome! Oh... your notebook was such a creative idea! All the days you have missed in school and you managed to write out such a fanciful tale. Oh... you might even become a writer one day!" Her teacher for Language arts, Mrs. Hanashi, was still bubbling with praise as Kagome went to a seat by Yuka, Eri and Ayumi.

She grits her teeth in a forced smile as she asks her friends a very important question. "Can someone please tell me what's going on here?"

Eri looks over in shock, "You mean, Mrs. Hanashi hasn't told you?"

"No..."

Yuka grabs hold of Kagome's arm, "Mrs. Hanashi has been reading from your notebook to the class."

"_What_?" Kagome's face turns red. In that notebook, were her tales of the feudal era. The assignment was use the notebook however you wanted, no one was ever to read them. And hers was read... to... the... class... "How'd she even get a hold of it!?"

One of the tree sheepishly raises their hand. "I can answer that..."

The movement, and its source, catches Kagome off guard. "Ayumi?"

"A couple weeks ago you... had rushed out of here right after class. We guessed that you felt sick, but you were here for the next class..."

Kagome vaguely remembered that day, she had spotted Inuyasha walking around the school grounds... without a hat on. She was almost late for her next class, but had made it just in time.

"And you kinda... left your notebook behind."

"What?" She thinks back to leaving and grabs hold of her head, she _had_ left the notebook behind...

"I guess you didn't write your name in it, because Mrs. Hanashi was trying to figure out who's it was. And soon, as she put it, she was "captured into the story". I managed to convince her to give me the notebook, and she did. But I kept forgetting to give it to you that day, and the next day, you were gone. She took back the notebook and started reading it to the class."

"Great... I might as well go and get it."

Eri smiles, "Then there's some good news, Ayumi has it."

Kagome grabs hold of Ayumi's shoulders, "Thank goodness! I don't think I could handle walking up there! The applause was already too much for me to bear."

Ayumi laughs and quickly looks around, most of the class was being loud. Good, she didn't interrupt anything. "Ok Kagome!" She laughs again, "You can stop your death-grip."

"I will... just as soon as you hand over my notebook."

"If you let go, I'll give it you! I can't reach my backpack like this!"

"I guess you have a point. All right, I'll trust you." and lets go.

Ayumi reaches into her backpack and hands Kagome the book, but when she tries to take it Ayumi holds on tight. "We have some questions first though..."

Kagome glances around nervously. "Like what?"

Eri gets closer, "Like the names..." She shares a quick look with the other two girls around her. It seemed they had been scheming this for a while, "Or just the people themselves."

"Uh..." How could she explain this? She needed a story, and fast.

Yuka has the exact same sneaky look plastered on her face, "We figured that since you're in the notebook, that you must know these people."

"Uhhh, yeah! I know them... They're sorta... friends of the family. When I'm sick and alright to be around people but too weak to go to school my Mom takes me to visit them."

The three's faces light up, they had bought her tale. They also looked relieved.

"We were afraid that you had a crush on an imaginary guy."

Kagome's face turns read, "What? I... c-crush? What do you m-mean Eri?"

Eri scoffs, "Come on Kagome. We're your best friends, I think we can tell when you have a crush on someone."

'Yet they didn't know that I don't have a boyfriend...' "Hey, umm. Who is it that you think I have a crush on?"

They give each another look and shout in unison, "KOUGA!" Before bursting out in laughter.

This caught the teachers attention, "Ladies... you can talk but please, not so loudly?"

The quiet down and Yuka gets closer to Kagome, "We aren't stupid, Inuyasha of course."

"Yeah, he's probably better then your boyfriend... have you dumped him yet?"

"Yes?"

"Thank goodness... now I don't have to worry about him." She looks nervous, "It wasn't a bad breakup was it? Nothing that he might hunt you down and try to kill you?"

"He wasn't that bad Eri."

"I know Yuka... but still. I'm glad Kagome has her sights set on Inuyasha, now. He's right in-between your old boyfriend, and Hojo. Not too spicy and not too sweet."

Kagome's stomach growls and she leans on her hand, "No talk of food please... I didn't have breakfast."

Ayumi hands Kagome her notebook, "I'm sure that's enough questions to tide us over for now... but there will probably be more."

"I'm so glad..." The bell rings and everyone starts to pack up and get ready to leave. School was finally out. Everything was right in the world. Hojo was standing at her locker... wait, that wasn't good!

"Ah, Kagome! I have something to ask you..."

"Hojo, I really have to hurry home today."

"Oh, I'll make this quick then. Do you plan to go to the fair this summer?"

The fair... Hojo was talking about the cheaper prices of the fair once every summer. She couldn't go to that! Inuyasha probably would fight her just to go home and get supplies. Besides... she didn't want to, not with Hojo at least. "No... I think my family is going to be gone then."

"Really? That's too bad... Oh well, see ya later then!"

Kagome shook her head as Hojo ran off, "I really hope he gets a summer girlfriend or something. A couple weeks ago he was asking about the beach, now he asks about the fair... I don't think I can handle much more of this." Thinking about summer and all its activities gives her an idea... and a fun one at that! Now all she had to do was get the stuff. Hopefully she wouldn't get back too late.

* * *

ACC: (Angrily smashes shadowy fists against the table) I just don't get how you "Own" me. 

BC: It's just a legal thing. You're my idea so _technically_ I _own _you, but it'd take a better Authoress then me to be able to _control_ you. And before you ask, no, QJP and PLP can't control you either. Neither can Baka-Chan.

QJP/PLP/Baka-Chan: (Enter room)

Baka-Chan: There you are BC! Now, do I _look _like a girl to you!?

BC: That's not what I meant, but I guess not. I mean, no _girl _would let themselves keep the name of "Baka-Chan." Cause really, how often do you see Hyperspace BAKA-mallets used on _girls_. That's an attack dealt by girls, and usually to guys. Not viceaversa.

Baka-Chan: Hey!

BC: No offense.

QJP: So, are you going to explain your "Lock Box of Ideas" now?

BC: No. Now everyone else, go runoff and be good little Crickets and review now, kay? Thanks readers!

Baka-Chan: That's it! I don't _need _a mallet! I'll knock some concentration in with my fist. How bout you try staying on topic!?

ACC: BC could probably use it.

BC, over and out!


	8. A change of beadery

Love of friends

Chapter 8: A change of beads.

* * *

QJP: Well? Who did it? 

(Anime characters decide it might be good idea to leave. Baka-chan, QJP, PLP, BC, and the ACC are the only ones left.)

Baka-chan: Don't look at me, I was with you…

PLP: It took me awhile to find BC's stash of Cotton candy, so it wasn't me.

QJP: That means…

(Turns to BC and the ACC)

It was one of you two! Who was it?

BC: Okay, okay, it was…

ACC: Me!

QJP: What?

ACC: I couldn't help it, I was bored because BC was making the Jell-O and I had nothing to do!

QJP: I guess I can't do anything too bad… you're needed for BC's story later. Just don't do it again. Come on Baka-chan.

(Drags Baka-chan away)

PLP: Why did you say that?

ACC: If BC got really hurt, I'd have to control her fic. That wouldn't be good.

BC: (Teary eyed)

I don't own Inuyasha… but I love Author created characters!

* * *

Kagome was climbing out of the well in feudal Japan. She had stopped home after school for a few more summer surprises, but had left as fast as possible for the past. After dragging herself up the inside of the well, Kagome looks around the surface. The others were usually close by when she came back but, she had only told Sango the day was short. Maybe the others didn't know. 

"It's about time!"

Kagome turns around to face Inuyasha. She was still hanging from the side of the well, "Oh, Inuyasha. Where's everyone else?"

Inuyasha's arms were folded in front of his chest; his look was very accusing. "You leave for your stupid school all of a sudden, and that's the only thing you can think of?"

Kagome climbs all the way out of the well. Sometime during the journey, her backpack had slid off one of her shoulders. Now that she was out, Kagome adjusts the strap and leans back to sit on the wall. "Well, I figured you wouldn't let me go..."

"Of course I wouldn't let you go! First you say that everyone needs a rest, and then the next day you run off. And you didn't say anything about those test things..." He turns away from her. Miroku's words had stuck in his thoughts. What if she had found herself a mate? It wasn't like he cared, he just wanted to make sure she'd still look for shards. That was all he was worried about. Nothing else. He's not really fooling anyone, is he? "Umm." Inuyasha fidgets slightly "So, why'd... you go?"

Kagome glances quickly to Inuyasha, he didn't sound as angry as he had before. He barely even sounded annoyed, though he still looked it. "Inuyasha, I went to school because I'm not going back there for 3 months."

Inuyasha looks at her in shock, "What?" 'She's not going back to school for 3 months...' "Why?" He regains his scowl and turns to look at her, "Did you finally decide to quit school?"

She fully turns toward Inuyasha and grabs hold of the straps to her backpack, shouting at him over the well, "I've already told you, I'm not going to quit!"

Inuyasha's ears twitch at the noise and he goes to the other side of the well to stand next to Kagome. "Fine! So then why are you staying so long? And why are you back already?"

"It's called summer vacation. It's a break before the next school year starts. And today, I didn't have to stay at school as long as usual, it was a short day, and pretty easy."

"You didn't have tests to take then. So, what was the point in you even going?"

"Well... I'm not going to see my friends from school for a while. I can't just drop off the face of the earth. I may even..." She crosses her fingers behind her back, "Have to go back a few more days then to just get supplies... so that they don't worry too much. If they don't see me, they might end up cal-coming to my house and seeing that the rest of my family is there, but not me. Then they might not ever let me come back." Besides, Kagome wasn't sure she would be able to spend 3 months with Inuyasha, not including her dashes home to get supplies, without going completely crazy. 'Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it...'

"Feh, then I'll just come and get you."

"Trust me. You don't want them to see you!" 'They know about my notebook... I don't think I'll be able to explain you away.'

"Oh yeah? Why?"

"Why? Because... my friends are all girls! If they see your ears, they'd probably never stop trying to pet them... they'd gush at how soft they are."

Inuyasha looked slightly relieved... so the monk was wrong. "Why does everyone want to touch my ears? They're _ears_!"

"No one in my time has ears like yours..."

"So? I don't go around and touch people! You don't see me grab people's ears, so why should they grab mine?"

"I guess fuzzy ears are like a sign that say 'touch me'."

"Humph..."

Kagome starts to walk away, "Come on Inuyasha."

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Now is as good of time as ever to see Kaede about your beads." She continues to walk toward Kaede's village, Inuyasha lagging behind.

Kagome really was going to see if the old hag could do something. And Inuyasha thought she had said that so he wouldn't get too upset for sitting him.

* * *

"So, what do you think of my idea Kaede?" Kagome asks brightly. 

Kaede turns away, shaking her head. "Not only do I think ye are crazy for trying to release Inuyasha, but he as well must be crazy for stopping yer plans."

"Kaede please, isn't there anything you can do to help?"

"He may be different from when ye first met but, he is still himself."

"Gee, that makes me feel better... Thanks, you old ha...!"

"Inuyasha! Remember, she's going to be helping you?"

He folds his arms and turns away. "Feh."

"So Kaede... can you help?"

"Hmm." Kaede nods, "I think there is something I can do. Though let me be clear, I do this against better judgement." Kaede slowly walks into her home.

"So... what's the new word going to be?"

"I don't know..."

"Well this time Kagome, how about a word that you won't say by accident so often?"

"Here we are." Kaede walks out, prayer beads in her hands.

"What the h! They look just like the ones I have now!"

"Yes Inuyasha, they do. But there are also differences." She turns to look at Kagome, "Kagome, while the other beads focused more on yer spiritual powers, these ones will respond more to how ye feel. This will allow control over how strong the beads subdue. Have ye thought of a subduing word yet?"

"The only one I can think of is... well, if I say it, Inuyasha will be sat."

"Part of the problem is you saying sit by accident! That's why you need a new word!"

"Calm yerself Inuyasha. The word sit will work well enough. Ye will not be subdued unless Kagome means for it, I am sure of that if nothing else."

"What the h is that supposed to mean?"

"Inuyasha, now is not the time to be questioning me. Ye must know that I have more faith in these prayer beads working, then ye not taking this opportunity to cause trouble."

Inuyasha starts to grumble to himself, anything audible and Kagome would just take longer.

"Kaede! You're not really being very fair."

"Past misdeeds are not easily forgiven, Kagome."

"But still..." She turns to look at Inuyasha, trying to ignore how Kaede was acting, "Are you ready for me to take off the beads?"

"Of course I am! I want these stupid beads off, _now_!"

"Inuyasha, ye needn't be so hasty. Kagome may not even remove the beads if ye keep it up."

"What?" Kagome turns back to look surprised at Kaede. " I never said that. It was my idea to change beads in the first place."

"That is besides the point. Ye need not remove the beads for he is pushing his luck."

That was something Inuyasha wouldn't stand for, "Now you listen to me old women..."

"I shall not Inuyasha. And will not simply because ye tell me to."

"Will you two just STOP?"

"But... she started it!"

"And I'm finishing it, Inuyasha!"

Kaede watches to two argue for a bit before interrupting. "Neither of ye should be this upset. I have merely been testing Inuyasha."

"Testing?" Kagome and Inuyasha echo each other, "You better have a d good reason for it old women." Inuyasha threatens.

"Indeed Inuyasha, I do. I had to prove to myself that ye weren't just trying to be rid of the beads. Even if ye aren't trying to kill everyone you see, ye still have enough of a temper to be wary of."

"Kagome, just take these stupid beads off!"

She nods her head, "Right." Kagome carefully grabs hold of the beads, maybe it would have been better to have taken them off the night before. Doing it now was nerve wracking. Slowly, she slips them over his head and pauses a moment before fully taking them off.

"Finally! I thought that I'd never be rid of them..."

"But Inuyasha, you're not. Kaede is almost ready to put the new beads on."

"What, I can't enjoy the moment?"

Kagome gives Inuyasha a small half smile, "That's not what I meant. Just that, they won't be gone for long."

"Whatever... hey, Kagome! Say sit."

"Why?"

Inuyasha smirks, "I want to make sure they're gone."

"Sit."

He wasn't being sat. They really were off. Not even the fact that a new pair of beads was being put on could dampen his spirits.

"Inuyasha, we should get back to the others soon."

"I guess..." He walks back to Kagome and Kaede, waiting for Kaede to begin.

"Are ye ready, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just start already."

"Very well then." The old Miko laces her fingers, the tips of her pointer fingers and her palms touching each other, and closes her one eye. Slowly, the glowing beads rise to form a circle in front of her face and then, one by one, the beads shoot off and reform around Inuyasha's neck. "Now Kagome, say the subduing word!"

"Umm... sit?"

The beads ripple and then resettle. Inuyasha grabs hold of them, "Did it work?" He tries to take the beads off, but, they won't go past his chin.

"Of course they work, Inuyasha. I do know what I'm doing."

"Huh." He starts to pull up his sleeve, "Now about your testing, old hag..."

Inuyasha starts to make his way to Kaede but is interrupted by Kagome. "Sit boy!"

He hits the ground, beads first, and then starts to push up. He is able to lift off the ground, but, the beads stay put. "Hey! I'm stuck!"

"Hmm." Kaede watches Inuyasha's struggle, "Kagome, ye were trying not to hurt him, were ye not?"

"Umm..." She fidgets slightly. "I could see why Inuyasha was so upset... but I didn't want him to hurt you! Even if your test was unfair..."

Kaede smiles knowingly, "I see... and Inuyasha, ye passed my test. So ye shouldn't worry so much. I just had to be sure." She walks back to her hut, leaving Kagome hanging above Inuyasha's head.

"D that old woman!" Inuyasha pushes up, the beads finally releasing him from the ground, "Why did you do that, Kagome?"

"Inuyasha, she had a good point."

He looks taken aback, "Huh?"

"I trust you, but if I was in Kaede's position... I might have been wary too."

"Still! She didn't have to do all that."

"Just be glad that I can say sit..." The beads glow and ripple, but don't pull Inuyasha down. Kagome lets out a sigh, "...by accident and you don't end up sat."

"There is that..."

She sticks out her hand to help Inuyasha up. "Come one. We should hurry up and get back before something bad happens to the others."

Inuyasha latches on and pulls himself up, "Like what?"

"Other then Sango snapping and killing Miroku after one too many gropes? Who knows?"

"I see what you mean."

* * *

When Inuyasha and Kagome walk up to the campsite, things seemed peaceful enough. Miroku, Sango and Shippo were all sitting around the burned out campfire. As the two approach, Sango lifts her head. "Oh! You're back... I thought today was short." 

Miroku turns to face Inuyasha and Kagome, the side closest to Sango held a quickly fading red handprint. "We expected you two a lot sooner."

Kagome sits to the left of Shippo, "Sorry. I got a bit held up in my time."

"Kagome! Did you bring me anything?"

"I didn't bring any candy for you Shippo, sorry, but I brought a surprise! Even Inuyasha doesn't know what it is."

"What's with all the surprises?"

"Blame Summer vacation. Inuyasha? How about you go over by Shippo. Or better yet... how about you sit down?"

Shippo gets a horrified look on his face and covers his head. "He's gonna blame me for this! I didn't get him sat, it's Kagome's fault!" He sits there a bit longer, "Why didn't I hear the crash?" Shippo takes his hands off his head and looks around, Inuyasha was sitting next to him. Not being _sat_... but _sitting_. "Huh?"

Miroku and Sango look shocked. "He's still wearing his prayer beads... right Miroku?"

"I believe so Sango."

"Then what's going on?"

"I do not know."

Kagome starts to grin, "New prayer beads... no more accidental sittings."

Shippo looks slightly disappointed. "That's not the surprise, is it?"

"No... this is the surprise. I brought bathing suits for all of us!"

Inuyasha imagines himself in Kagome's stripped suit, "I'M NOT WEARING ONE OF THOSE THINGS!"

She unzips her backpack and tosses Miroku a pair of black swim trunks with purple trim and pockets. Kagome then hands Shippo a pair of blue trunks and Inuyasha some red trunks with white trim and white pockets. (Why do I feel the need to describe Inuyasha and Miroku's trunks more then Shippo's? Because I do! So nah!) "Come on Inuyasha. It'll be fun. You guys go on and change, you can go with them if you want Shippo. Oh! Wait a minute..." She reaches into her backpack and takes out a pair of deflated water wings. "These are for you."

"What are they Kagome?"

"They help you swim. I don't know how deep the water gets, or how good you can swim, they'll help you. Besides, I won't have to worry about you. So... will you wear them?"

Shippo nods his head.

"Good." She blows up the water wings and puts one on each hand, "All you have to do is push them up your arms after you put on your bathing suit, ok?"

"Yeah!"

She smiles and hands him the floaties. "I used to use these too, they made me feel safe." Her thoughts wander for a moment but soon get back on track. "Well...that's it. Me and Sango will meet you by the stream. And Miroku?"

"Yes Kagome?"

"Once you're done changing..." She turns around and points to a large rock, "Meet me there."

The five split up, Kilala left to guard the campsite. Kagome stops a long ways to the left of the boulder she told Miroku to meet her by, "Alright Sango, here's the suit I got for you." She pulls out a diagonally stripped pink and green, one piece, bathing suit. "I just hope it will fit."

"Kagome, it seems to show a lot of skin..."

"Don't worry so much Sango!"

"You have to worry with Miroku around."

"I'll take care of him. You just put that on and leave everything to me." Kagome quickly puts on her own suit, clothes in her hands. "I'll see you at the stream!" She then runs off to the rock to wait for Miroku.

* * *

"This is probably a good spot to leave these." Kagome drops her clothes at her feet and pushes it out of the way. 

"Kagome?"

She steps out from behind the rock, "Right here."

His eyes widen for a moment, but then he looks into her face and doesn't waver. "Why did you ask me to meet you here?"

Kagome smiles, "Wow, you're keeping eye contact!"

Miroku clears his throat, "Why of course. I'd rather not be killed sooner then I would from my wind tunnel."

"What do you mean by that?"

"When I first met you and Inuyasha, I merely let my hand slip and you would of had me killed."

"That wasn't a slip!"

"The point is, I do anything inappropriate to you and Inuyasha might just fulfill that request. Besides, you are already sp..." Well, Kagome was only spoken for by Kouga, and unwillingly at that. And Miroku was starting to doubt that Inuyasha would ever get around to sorting out his feelings for the two girls that looked so much alike. But, until it was made, both would equally be protected. He clears his throat again, "I mean... you are now more of a friend then someone I would ask to bear my child." There. That should be enough of an answer for her. Now, to the point. "Kagome... will you now please tell me why I was to meet you here?"

"Oh, yeah. Well... Sango's worried about her suit." She looks down at her own orange and yellow one-piece swim suit, "So try to control yourself. Or at least your hands."

"Why, of course Kagome! What sort of monk do you take me for?"

"If you don't, you won't be able to stay. You'll have to wait at Kaede's." she warns.

"I understand." He turns after a nod and starts to walk away.

"Oh, Miroku."

The monk stops in his tracks.

"Kaede has her own bathing suit, she just didn't want to swim. She said something about wearing it inside her hut though... "

Miroku turns slightly pale. "I am a monk, I will keep my word. Sango need not worry." He takes a few steps back, "I'll see both of you soon then." and rushes off.

Kagome grins widely, that should keep him in his place. Her silent laughter was cut short when she hears a noise behind and turns to look. There's Inuyasha, bent as if he had tripped and caught his balance on the boulder. When he sees Kagome was looking his way, he straightens up and walks closer to her. He was smiling, and he looked as if he had already gone for a swim. Kagome's breath caught in her throat, she didn't even notice the yellow floaties... this wasn't Inuyasha, but Shippo! And Kagome was too out of it to notice.

"Did you really give Kaede a suit?" She didn't question his voice either, she took him at face value. He widens his smile at her.

"Uhhh..."

'Inuyasha' frowns suddenly. Then with a pop and a lot of smoke, he turns back into Shippo and lands at Kagome's feet. At first, all she can do is stare. "Hi, Kagome..."

She blinks, then lifts her head up to the sky and shouts with all her might. "SHIPPO!"

Let's just say, he sped out of there as fast as his fox feet would take him.

* * *

Kagome pushed through trees. She had chased after Shippo but, had still lost him. Soon, she ends up at the stream. Sango and Miroku were laughing together. Kagome would have smiled at the two, but she was still concerned with Shippo. 

A silver-haired half demon, also enjoying the water, turns as Kagome enters. "Hey, Kagome! Is what you told Miroku true?"

Kagome stares for a minute and before Inuyasha can even react, he's had a fist sized rock thrown at his head. Kagome breaths a bit heavily from the force she had thrown it. Shippo sticks his head out from some reeds by the water, wincing. "That had to hurt..."

Kagome looks back and forth between Shippo and Inuyasha, not comprehending what had just happened. Inuyasha turns to look at Miroku, "Did I deserve that?"

"Did you?"

"I don't know..."

"Kagome, why did you hit Inuyasha with a rock?" Sango asks, perplexed.

Right then, it hits Kagome to just what she had done. She turns and runs away. Sango dashes after her and misses Miroku's attention on a certain part of her anatomy.

Miroku lets out a sigh, "And I was enjoying her company..."

"Yeah right."

Miroku turns toward the angry half demon as Shippo starts to follow the path taken by Kagome and Sango. "I was!"

"Her company... and the rest of her..."

Shippo speeds away from Miroku and Inuyasha's argument, he didn't want to miss what Kagome and Sango were saying.

* * *

Kagome was trying to catch her breath when Sango caught up with her, "What just happened back there?" 

"I thought... he was... Shippo."

"Kagome, Shippo is a lot shorter then Inuyasha."

"No he..." Kagome takes a deep breath, she was feeling better now. "Shippo was..." and she stops. Kagome was sure she had seen a flash of orange in a bush in front of her. She takes a few steps forward still talking with Sango. "After talking to Miroku I turned around and there was..." Kagome reaches down quickly and lifts Shippo up by the tail and turns back to Sango. "Shippo pretending to be Inuyasha!"

"Uh-oh." He had been caught! What was a fox to do? He could use some of his fox magic but, he didn't want to make Kagome madder. What could he do?

Sango walks over closer, "Shippo, why were you pretending to be Inuyasha?"

"Umm." Time to think fast... if he had been able to hold Inuyasha's image better, he could have found out how much Kagome liked him. But, Shippo was sure he shouldn't say that, best to go with the innocent child act. "After Kagome told Miroku about giving Kaede a bathing suit..."

"What?" Sango looks up at Kagome.

"That's why Miroku was behaving."

Sango's mouth goes into a small 'o' as Kagome sets Shippo on the ground.

"After that I had gotten an idea. I was going to make Kagome think that Inuyasha wanted to trade bathing suits with Kaede..."

Kagome and Sango look shocked for a moment and then they started laughing. Loudly. Shippo looked at them, unsure of what was going on, but happy that nobody seemed mad.

Kagome brushes some hair out of her face, "That was it?"

"Yeah! What did you think I was trying to do, that you got so mad?" Ah, now Kagome was trapped.

Kagome gulps, unsure of what to say... when Sango comes to her rescue. "That's not important. What is, is that you need to apologize to Inuyasha, Shippo."

So close. "What? What do I need to apologize to Inuyasha for?"

Sango gives Shippo a glare, not a 'You be a bad monk and I'll kill you' glare, but a 'What you did was wrong now fix it' glare.

"I'll apologize..."

"Good. If you're ready Kagome, it would be a good idea to leave."

"Ok..."

"I don't want to though!"

Sango smiles, "That's fine as long as you still do it. "

"It's not fair." He folds his arms and walks back to the stream, Sango and Kagome following behind him.

* * *

Shippo continues to walk up to Inuyasha while Kagome and Sango wait by the trees. 

"What do you want?"

Shippo clears his throat, "I'm sorry you got hit with a rock Inuyasha..."

The hanyou scratches at his head, "Wench, shouldn't you be the one apologizing? You _are _the one that hit me!"

"He pretended to be you and..."

"WHAT?" He starts chasing after Shippo, "Come back here runt!"

"Kagome!"

Kagome covers up her face. Sango sighs, "That could have gone better."

"Oh yeah."

* * *

PLP: Lucky for you, QJP was in a good mood. 

BC: No… lucky me that something I did could have also been done by my ACC.

ACC: Just don't expect me to do that often.

BC: Ok, and you can't kill me when you find out what I do in my fic later.

PLP: I know what she does!

ACC: BC's just being an idiot. She thought me up, of course I know what happens in future chapters!

BC: Okay, but you still can't kill me. Okay?

ACC: Fine.

BC: Remember to hit the little button on the left! Otherwise, you can't review!

BC, over and out.


	9. Grouch of the dog, hidden ACC!

Love of friends

Chapter 9: Enter the ACC!

* * *

BC: Let's just cut to the chase. I don't own Inuyasha and neither do you. But if you want to read my warped mind's version, here it is. Enjoy.

* * *

Along one of the many worn paths of Feudal Japan, and sprawled out on the branch of a tree... was a girl. She looked to be about 15 years old, and asleep. This girl was wearing a pair of loose-fitting, blue, hakama and a blue haori with wide enough sleeves to fit two arms in. Sleepily, she flips over, and reaches up to her slightly unkempt hair, brown, with a slight orange tint, to scratch between her tworounded, triangular ears, set a little back on her head. Slowly she starts to awaken and soon, she's sitting up on the branch, her feet dangling off the side. The girl then slides off the branch to land leisurely on the ground. After stretching, she starts off down the path. The cuffs of her pants lay over the top of her bare feet, but they are just short enough that they don't hit the ground. With each bouncy and carefree step, a sword jiggles in a makeshift sheath over her shoulder. It isn't hard to tell it was once a quiver for arrows, even with a rope wrapped all the way around it.

After walking for some distance down the path, the wind picks up for a moment and a scent from behind catches her attention. The demon girl stops in mid-step, turns around, and sniffs at the air. Her bright blue eyes scrunch up, trying to make sense of the scent. She looks around, jumps up in to the air and pushes off with her feet, from a nearby tree trunk, to land on a wide branch. After slightly losing her balance, she grabs onto another branch and steadies herself. She sniffs at the air again and shakes her head. It just didn't make sense, "Fox and dog demon... and it smells like it's coming from the same area. But, the two demons don't get along well!" she pauses for a second to think over what she had said, and laughs. "Well, most of the time anyway. Hmm... It must be them, I can smell humans too." She hops of the branch and runs off at a fast speed, into the forest.

* * *

"Can we stop yet?", whines Shippo from Miroku's shoulder, "I'm tired…" 

Miroku looks over at his young passenger, "Why would you be tired? I've been carrying you around."

"I was walking earlier!"

Inuyasha suddenly halts in the middle of the path, almost causing Kagome to crash into him. "Inuyasha? Is there something wrong?"

"I can smell smoke…"

Sango looks to the front of the group from the back, "You don't think it's a destroyed village, do you?"

Inuyasha searches around, distractedly, while sniffing at the air, "There's no blood... and the smell of smoke isn't very strong."

Miroku looks up from his argument with Shippo, "Maybe it's a camp full of lovely young women!"

Sango turns to him, with a glare, and Miroku clears his throat. "Though, I could be wrong..."

"Well we're gonna find out." and Inuyasha continues to walk down the path. Kagome stares at the hanyou, they had been walking along this path all day and he was becoming increasingly more... edgy.

"Are you coming, or what?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Kagome runs in between Sango and Miroku and skids to a stop in front of Inuyasha. He stands there, shakes his head, and then they all continue to walk the path.

* * *

Shippo sits on Miroku's shoulder, a hand on his stomach. He was hungry, and the small fox demon wasn't the only one. Problem was, Inuyasha wouldn't let them stop, and whenever Kagome looked ready to sit him, she would see his determination and become silent. Slowly, a scent reaches Shippo's nose. He sniffs at the air and hops off the monk. 

"Shippo... what are you doing?" The fox doesn't answer and, before Miroku can ask again, Shippo bolts.

Kagome's almost knocked over by the orange blur, "What the..."

The kitsune runs a ways down the path, stops, sniffs deeply at the air again, and runs into the trees. Inuyasha is the first one to regain his senses and go after him but, after a moment, the others follow.

* * *

Shippo was running as fast as he could but, just before entering a clearing, Inuyasha grabs him by his tail. The rest of the gang eventually catches up and Kagome looks at Shippo from above Inuyasha's shoulder. "What is going on?" 

Shippo looks around nervously, "Umm..."

"I'll tell you what it is." He shoves the small demon at Kagome, "A ways back, I caught the scent of a demon, we had gone down the same path as them. It was weak for a while, but then we started to catch up with 'em." Inuyasha looks around the clearing and snarls as he spots fish roasting above a fire. "Xxxx... I can't tell where they're at, their scent's all over the place. Whoever set this trap, wanted to make sure I couldn't find them." He slowly enters the clearing, the others follow and spread out around the fire.

Shippo jumps from Kagome's arms to some tall grass to hide. The others prepare in case of an ambush. Inuyasha readies his hand on the hilt of Tetsusaiga, Kagome takes her bow off her shoulder, Sango getsHiraikotsu ready, and Miroku gets any talismans he might need set up.

"Come out now, unless you want a fight!" There was silence from their surroundings. Silence, until it's broken.

"You don't need to shout." Calmly, the female demon in blue walks into the clearing from the opposite side of the fire. She's not really smiling or frowning at the others, just watching.

"What is all this, some kind of trap? You plan to attack us?"

"My plans are mine, so you'll find out soon enough." The demon smirks and walks away from Inuyasha, to the left side of the fire, and towards Sango. "You must be the demon slayer, Sango. Defeating demons easily with your weapon..." She points to the boomerang on Sango's shoulder, "and a ferocious, giant, cat demon... which I don't see."

She turns around after hearing a small meow, coming from the general direction of Shippo. The demon then starts to scratch at her head. "Maybe it wasn't as big as I heard."

She then turns back and walks down the line to stop in front of Miroku who she, in turn, points to. "And you must be the monk, Miroku."

He bows and grabs hold of her hand, "You wouldn't be interested in bearing my child, would you?"

The demon girl tears her hand away from the monk and takes a step back. She gets ready to attack and takes a swing when something catches her eye, Sango's mouth had dropped and her eyes widened as she clutches at Hiraikotsu. She halts her claws and looks straight into the surprised monks face, "Lucky for you, there's someone out there that doesn't want you removed from this world. Otherwise, I'd grant the favor." She continues to stomp down the line, though she's still looking at the monk and when she turns back and spots Kagome, her anger increases. "And _you_...!"

Inuyasha pulls the Tetsusaiga partially out of its sheath, but stops as the girl finishes her stalking.

She sniffs, and takes a surprised step back. "I... I..." She blinks, "Don't... know you." The demon slowly edges past Kagome, and cautiously backs away. When she turns back around, she's face to face with Inuyasha. "And you're that cocky half-demon, Inuyasha!"

"What's it matter if I am, or if I'm not?" he leans forwards and sniffs, "As far as I can tell, you're nothing more then a half-demon yourself!"

"I never said that I wasn't... _you _just happen to be cocky."

"Just who do you think you are?"

"I don't have time to argue with you..." She starts to walk away from the still furious Inuyasha, but stops after a few steps, "Where is he?"

Inuyasha stomps his foot and growls, "I'm not done with you yet! And just who are you looking for, anyway?"

"The fox demon traveling with you, least, I thought there was one..."

It was now or never. This demon wanted _him._ He could run now... but then she might attack the others. He couldn't let that happen! Shippo takes a deep breath, and shakily answers from his cover, "Here... here I am." He climbs out and stands up as tall as possible. What did she want from him?

The half-demon crouches down by the kitsune. "So... my guess is, you're Shippo."

He slowly nods his head.

"Good." She smiles lightly to the younger demon "Nice to... meet you." She looks at him a bit longer, and gets a big grin on her face. She then rises and turns back to walk around the fire. "Go on and have the fish... It's not like I could eat all of that. And it's not that hard to catch them, so you might as well." She takes her arms, folds them up behind her head, and walks away.

Kagome was confused, and rightfully so. First this demon comes out of nowhere. Soon, she's ready to attack Miroku, and stops. And the whole thing with Shippo... what was this girl, bipolar? The demon looked ready to come after her, too, and then acted like she had seen a ghost. She didn't even introduce herself! Yet, she seemed to know about them... Kagome was about ready to question the retreating form, when she notices something. "Inuyasha! She has a jewel shard at her wrist!"

This instantly catches her attention. Mouth slightly ajar, the demon walks back around the fire and towards Kagome. "How did you...?"

"Stay back!" Inuyasha draws his sword and points the transformed Tetsusaiga right at her.

She jumps back a step, snarl on her face. But then she shakes her head, as if to clear it, and her expression changes to one of worry. She puts her hands in front of her, and takes another step back.

"Either give up the jewel shard, or fight!"

Her face twists to anger. "Fine!" She shoves her left hand into her right sleeve.

Inuyasha prepares for an attack, "Stand back everyone! Who knows what attacks she can use!"

The girl looks up in shock, "Attack?" at the same time, she pulls her hand out of the sleeve. A jewel shard held between her thumb and forefinger.

"Huh?"

"Sorry Inuyasha, I thought it was in her wrist... not her sleeve."

"Are you trying to make me look like an idiot Kagome?"

"You do that pretty good all by yourself, Inuyasha."

"Shut up Shippo!" His attention turns back to the half-demon, when she speaks.

"So... you _have_ been searching for the shards." She stares hard at the fragment then, sticks out her hand to the others. "Here."

Kagome's jaw drops, "You're just going to hand it over?"

"Why not?"

"I'll tell you why." Inuyasha takes the flat of the sword and sticks it out in front of Kagome.

"What are you doing now?"

He ignores her and continues to talk with the other half-demon. "Do you know what that is?" says Inuyasha.

"A shard of the Shikon Jewel?"

"Do you know what it does?"

"It..." she stares down at her fist, "It gives power."

"Who in their right mind refuses that? This must be a trap."

"Or I might have seen what something so small can do. I don't trust it. I was actually hoping to trade it for food... but if it keeps you from attacking, I might as well hand it over." She holds it out again.

Kagome tries to move around the Tetsusaiga, but Inuyasha won't let her. "Stay _there _Kagome."

"How bout I just give it to you?" She takes a step forward, but Inuyasha points the sword back at her.

"I still say this is a trap!"

"But then how am I..." she growls, and then beckons to the fox demon. " Shippo, come here."

"What are you trying to do now? Kidnap Shippo?"

"No. If you won't let me go over there, or her..." She points to Kagome "over here, then I'll let _him _deliver it."

"And what's going to stop you from killing him over there?"

"I'm not going to attack a defenseless kid!"

Shippo walks over to her, "I'm not a defenseless kid!"

"Really?" She rises an eyebrow.

"That's right! I'm an adult! And I know a lot of attacks."

"How can you be an adult if I'm not an adult?"

"You're not an adult?"

"Well, _I_ don't think I am. But what does it matter to be an adult? Between your friends, you don't get any more or less respect. It's how you are to others that matter. I'm just me." She hands the shard over to Shippo, "Go on and give this to that human Inuyasha is so adamant on protecting. And maybe sometime, you can show me what you can do." She stands and starts to leave again.

Shippo stares at the shard, and then calls to her, "Wait!"

The demon stops and looks back over her shoulder.

"You never told us who_ you _are."

"I didn't?" She looks at the others, slowly shaking their heads. "I didn't!" She chuckles, "I guess it can't hurt... I'm Talgi." She then runs off before anyone can ask anything else.

Shippo climbs up to Inuyasha's shoulder and passes the shard over to Kagome. For a second, the demon and half demon watch where Talgi had left. Shippo's the first to talk, "She... was kinda strange."

"Not just her." scoffs Inuyasha.

"Huh?"

"Her scent, too."

"I couldn't smell much through the..."

"That's what I'm talking about."

"Oh..."

Inuyasha walks over to the still stunned monk. "Are you really that stupid?"

"I didn't expect a reaction like that..."

"You're lucky she didn't take your head off."

"Thank Buddha..."

"That's probably not the person you should be thanking..."

He leaves the monk, confused, and drops Shippo of at the fire. "Eat."

"But you said..."

"If she didn't kill us then, this shouldn't kill us now."

Shippo looks skeptically at the fire, grabs one of the fish, and takes a big bite. He then starts tearing in to it. "Finally, food!"

* * *

BC: Yeah so... my ACC is Talgi! 

Talgi: (Shadows are gone) Yo.

QJP: It's about _time_! I've been _waiting_ for this chapter!

PLP: Well, so have I!

BC: Guys, I know both of you have been waiting! But, know you got a chance to read it, so there's no need to fight. That's it from me. BC, over and out! (Smile with V-sign)

* * *

QJP: BC, are you gonna end the chap. soon? 

BC: (Through clenched teeth) I can't, I'm stuck!

PLP: Hold still. (Smacks BC in back of head with purse)

BC: Yeeeeow! (clutches head)

QJP: Why'd you do that PLP?

PLP: (Holds out lollipop) Look BC, candy!

BC: (snatches candy) I'm confused... is pain good or bad?

QJP: I guess it depends on why it's being done... and how funny it is.

Talgi: I thought you guys were done...

BC: Oh, right... See ya!


	10. Surprises left and right!

Love of friends

Chapter 10: Surprises left and right!

* * *

BC: This is chapter ten! You hear that? TEN! (Blows on party blower) CEL-E-BRATE! 

Talgi: (Blows through hers, but it's messed up so it doesn't squeak) That's not fair!

BC: (Tosses both blowers out of the window) The things are trash anyway, I'll grab you a whole pack later if you really want one.

Talgi: Sure...

PLP/QJP: (Enter room, each one has a party blower)

PLP: Look what we found!

QJP: They fell from the sky...

BC: (Grabs blowers and tosses out window... again) They can fly!

Talgi: Or fall...

BC: Same thing.

QJP: Hey!

PLP: You better be planning to go and get those...

BC: You don't want them... they've already been used! By... err...

Talgi: Jaken and Kikyo!

BC: Uh, yeah. That works.

PLP: WHAT?

QJP: Eww...

BC: Anyway, I don't own Inuyasha! I... sorta own Talgi...

Talgi: ... I'm not even going to try anymore. Fine! She "owns" me... Happy now?

* * *

While Inuyasha, Miroku, Shippo, and Kilala lounged or played back at their camp, Kagome and Sango went out for water. They talked quietly while lugging around containers. Things were calm until Sango spots somethingfarther down the path. Putting a finger to her lips, the two slowly continue to walk. Soon, they realize that it's the female half-demon that they had met about a week earlier, taking a drink while crouched down by the stream. 

Kagome can't stop herself, she shouts out to Talgi. "You!"

With a yelp, Talgi falls in the stream. Then she's back up on her feet, turned to them, and looking ready to fight. "Why won't you just leave... Oh!" She brushes some of the wet hair out of her face, "It's you two. I didn't expect to see you guys again. I thought you were from that village a ways back there." She points a little bit to theright of the path Kagome and Sango had been walking on, " They have a real problem with demons."

Kagome steps closer, Sango right behind her. "They weren't overly friendly to us either."

"They just wanted us gone. It felt like we were going to be attacked at any moment."

Talgi frowns, "Try being a lone demon, even if you're only half." She squeezes out some of the water from her shirt, and climbs up the bank of the stream. "Sango and... Kagome, right? Yeah. What are you doing out here anyway? And where are the others?"

Sango lifts up the container, "We came to get water."

"And the others are back at the camp."

An idea forms in Sango's head, "Why?" She smiles evilly, " Did one of them catch your attention? I bet it was Inuyasha, he is a half-demon after all."

Talgi looks at her, confused, as Kagome's mouth drops. She's about to question Sango when she sees the glint in her eye. She understood, Sango was messing with the demon's head. If Sango was going to play that game, she was too. "No, no... I bet it was Miroku. It's hard to resist such forwardness."

They both turn to look at Talgi, Sango's smile widens. "Which one Talgi?"

Kagome has a similar smile on her face, "You can tell us."

Kagome and Sango continue to close in, pushing Talgi towards the stream. Just before falling in again, she jumps up onto an overhead branch, shock on her face. Kagome and Sango begin to laugh when Talgi interrupts them, "My mother may have not taught me much, but, even _I_ know not to mess with the mates of those I'd rather have on my side, and not against me. And even if I did think of one of those two like that, I'm not stupid."

"M-m-mate?" Kagome stutters, and then gulps. "We're not even boyfriend and girlfriend!"

"Huh?"

Sango steps forward, pushing a horror-struck Kagome back a bit, and tries to explain, "She means we're not... courting."

"You're not?" Talgi sits down on the branch, "I could have sworn... never mind." she slides down to the ground and shakes her head. "Huh. Well, good luck with the water. You might want to watch out for small fish. Hey. Maybe I'll see you guys again. If it's happened twice, it can happen another time." She starts to walk away and leave the other girls to their task, when a recovered Kagome calls her back.

"Wait Talgi..."

She stops and looks back over her shoulder.

"You said that you were going to trade that shard you gave us... for food, right?"

"I was, until I either had to give it up, or fight Inuyasha."

"Then you should come back to our camp with us."

Sango grabs hold of Kagome's arm and feverishly whispers to her. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? Inuyasha and Miroku weren't exactly happy about the _last _time they saw her."

"Well _I'm _the one that cooks, so they really don't have much say. Besides, it's only fair." Kagome turns back to Talgi, looking expectantly. "Well Talgi? What do you say?"

"Really, that's alright," She takes a step back, "You don't need to do that..."

"Come on..." sighs Kagome, "It's the least we can do after scaring you... twice." She grins at the half-demon.

Talgi smiles nervously, "You're not going to let me say no... are you?"

"Knowing Kagome, probably not." Sango gave up. If Kagome was going to try this hard, she could deal with Inuyasha and Miroku.

"Then I don't have much choice I guess..."

"Ooh! Okay. Sango, you grab one of her arms, I'll grab the other!"

"You're not planning to drag me, are you?"

"No, no... there's just less of a chance that you'll run if we're right here."

"Ah..." Talgi wasn't really convinced.

"Kagome, we still need to get water." interjects Sango.

"Oh, right!" Kagome walks over to the stream and quickly dunks the containers in. She hands one over to Sango and grabs Talgi's arm, "Let's get going!"

* * *

That was Kagome's scent getting closer, Inuyasha could pick up the smallest whiff instantly. She was partially turned to talk behind her when Inuyasha realized there was a smell that shouldn't be there. "What is she doing here?" 

Miroku lifts his head up to the half demon sitting in the tree that he was leaning on, and then to Kagome. Right behind her was Talgi, being steered by Sango. He stands as they enter.

"Inuyasha, _I _asked her to come!"

"That doesn't answer my question Kagome!"

Talgi looks to Inuyasha and Miroku with a strained and nervous smile on her face, but all they do is glare back at her. She turns around, "You know what? I think I'll go back to that demon-hating village, I'll probably be welcomer there. Maybe I'll go and kill one of their children too! Then they'll be _really _happy to see me..." She walks past Sango, and from her look, could tell Kagome wasn't very happy. With her, Inuyasha, or Miroku, she didn't know. She didn't really care, she was just trying to get far, far, away. While doing so, something latches on to her arm. Talgi looks down to the young kitsune, eyes wide and looking up to her hopefully.

"You're... not gonna leave yet, are you?"

Talgi crouches down, getting to Shippo's level. "Shippo, I don't think I should stay here. Just look at Inuyasha and Miroku! Do they look like they want me here?"

Shippo looks over to them, and then turns back to Talgi. "I don't know about Inuyasha... but Miroku might be upset that you wanted to attack him."

"I did?" Talgi thinks for a second, then looks to Shippo. "I did, didn't I? I... sorta have an excuse... I didn't know if you were all really who I thought you were. If I didn't show right away that I meant business, and you weren't the ones I was looking for, who'd know what might happen."

"That _does _make a little bit of sense."

"Whose side are you on monk?" snaps Inuyasha.

"All I said was..."

Inuyasha jumps down from his perch, "Just shut-up Miroku."

"Please Kagome? Can Talgi stay to eat?" Shippo bounces, waiting for the reply.

"That's why she's here, but it's up to her." Kagome smiles inwardly. There was nothing like a guilt trip from a little kid.

"But... but..." stammers Talgi. But soon, she's given in, "I guess, as long as I don't end up killed over food." He just _had _to come out from his hiding place. She could have left if he had just stayed there.

"Don't count on it..."

"Inuyasha! Be nice."

He turns his back to the others, "Feh..."

Miroku's come closer to where Talgi was crouched. He's not as close as Sango or Kagome though. Just because she had an understandable reason, didn't mean he could fully trust her.

Talgi stands up, "So… what now?"

"You can come and play with me till the foods done!"

She smiles at the young fox, looking regretful. "Shippo, if I'm going to be eating it, I should help prepare it."

"You'd be helping if you took Shippo and kept him busy."

"That's not really helping, Kagome!"

"Trust me… it is."

"But… oh fine then." She frowns, and then breaks into a wide grin, "Where to then Shippo?"

"Yay! We can go for a walk, maybe we'll even see Kilala!" He grabs hold of her hand, and starts to drag Talgi along.

"Kilala?"

"Sango's two-tailed cat-demon partner. She's small, but can grow really big!"

"Now it makes sense…" Before disappearing past the trees, Talgi hoists Shippo up, so that they can go faster. Laughing as they go.

Inuyasha watches the two, silently grumping. Once he's sure they're out of earshot, he stalks over to Kagome, "You're just going to let them go of alone?"

"I never said that." She taps at her temple, a sly smile on her face. "We need to wait a bit… give them a head start. I have questions to be answered, and I plan on getting them. If she's up to something… there's more of a chance that she'll slip to Shippo, then to us."

So Kagome didn't trust Talgi either. That was a relief. Inuyasha can't help but smirk slightly at the news.

"Don't you even start Inuyasha! I don't know much about her, and yes, it's always possible that she may not be what she seems. Just because she was a bit… different the first time we met her, doesn't mean she's a minion of Naraku or something!"

'D that mind reading wench!'

Miroku clears his thought, interrupting the two, "It would probably be best to not let them get too far away..."

"Right..."

"And we may want to start the food so it's done by the time we get back."

"Good thinking Sango!" Talgi might get suspicious if she came back, and the food wasn't started. "Inuyasha, Sango, you guys find her, and we'll catch up."

Inuyasha and Sango run after Talgi, leaving Miroku behind. "Why is it that you had me stay back and help you Kagome?"

"That's easy, the other two are quieter then you."

He feigns a hurt look while leaning on his staff. "I'm quiet..."

"Sango's trained and Inuyasha's a half demon, they're quieter then either of us. Not to mention that Inuyasha can smell Talgi and Shippo out. If I left _you _with Sango, you'd only grope her. Inuyasha, you two might start arguing. I'm supposed to cook, and I need help, so you're with me."

"I did not know I was so troublesome..."

"You're not _that _bad..." 'Sango found you lovable enough, even with your faults.'

"Wait a moment, I thought it was Sango's turn to cook..."

"Just, go get my back-pack!"

* * *

"So that was Kilala... she looked formidable." 

"Yep! She's really helpful in a fight." says Shippo from Talgi's shoulder.

While Shippo and Talgi walked and talked, Inuyasha and Sango followed. They weren't on the path, and Inuyasha made sure that they were downwind. There's a snap from back behind them.

"Sango," whispers Inuyasha, "That's probably Kagome and Miroku. I'll continue tracking and you lead them out here, alright?"

Sango nods and turns back, while Inuyasha continues onward.

She runs, dodges, and hops, trying to get back as fast as possible. Suddenly, she's rammed into something. She can't see anything but black... black... cloth...?

"Um, hello Sango."

She pushes back from Miroku, blushing. Though... luckily that was mostly covered up by the mask of her battle gear. Good thing she convinced Inuyasha to wait a moment so that could go along quieter. "I never even heard you two!"

"I told you I was quiet, lady Kagome."

"Oh Miroku... don't you think that maybe Sango had getting back to us on her mind? She _did _just run into you."

"Well maybe..."

"I-Inuyasha... he's up ahead, following them. I'll lead you to him..."

"Thank you lady Sango." Miroku bows and Sango blushes deeper.

Kagome leans over to Sango to whisper to her. "If you blush anymore that masks going to get hot enough to burn your face. Then you'll have a permanent blush."

"You're not helping..." Sango whispers back.

"May I ask what you two are discussing?"

"No!" Sango then turns and starts to walk, stiffly, back to where Inuyasha was.

Miroku gives Kagome a confused look. "I was only asking..."

"Don't worry about it Miroku." She follows Sango, leaving Miroku behind. Soon he's gotten over it, and follows.

* * *

Inuyasha lay on the ground, peering through bushes to a field that Shippo and Talgi had decided to stop their walk in. Shippo ran through tall grass and flowers alike, chasing butterflies. Talgi sat in the grass, cheering Shippo on and laughing. The two were oblivious to Inuyasha. Not only did he make sure to stay downwind... but, the field was also surrounded by a particularly strange scented bush. Inuyasha, even with his keen senses, couldn't smell anything but the bushes. His hearing though, was unimpeded. A quiet crunch of foliage from behind caught his attention. "It's about time..." he whispers to himself. 

"Hi Inuyasha... anything happen yet?" Asks Kagome quietly while she, Sango, and Miroku lay onto the ground beside the hanyou. "Sorry we're kinda late..."

"What took you guys so long?"

"There were some problems. A few actually. But at least we got here."

"I'm guessing the monk caused them."

"I did not Inuyasha!"

"Keep it down Miroku." Sango lightly hits the monk's shoulder. "Do you want to be caught?"

"Not really..."

"Hey Talgi! You wanna see something?"

"What's going on?" Whispers Miroku.

"Sure Shippo." Talgi gets up, walks over to the small fox demon, and sits down to watch him.

"I don't know monk, look for yourself!"

"Inuyasha... please calm down? It's all right." Kagome takes a hand and pats Inuyasha's shoulder. It's not too long though, her fingers start to twitch, realizing what she was doing. She lets out a small, nervous, laugh, and looks intently through the bushes. Inuyasha looks confused for a moment, but he can't worry about strange actions from Kagome right now. He goes back to watching Shippo and Talgi.

"Here goes nothing!" He flips, there's a puff of smoke, and Shippo's turned into some sort of two-foot high, orange, ogre. Talgi stares in disbelief while Shippo grins, white waving around. Another flip, and he turns into Inuyasha in a pair of swim trunks and yellow floaties on. He stands on his hands and hangs his feet over his head, with his tongue stuck out. Talgi bursts out in laughter.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Inuyasha starts to stand up, but Kagome pulls him down.

"Inuyasha, you can deal with Shippo later!"

Inuyasha growls, but he lays back down on the ground.

Shippo flips again, and he turns into a slightly bigger, orange, Kilala. Talgi's stopped laughing, and nods her head in appreciation. She looks down at him with a smile and pats his head. She starts to talk to him but, rather then her voice, it's Kagome's. "Oh Shippo! Look at you!"

She stops petting Shippo and crosses her arms in front of her. Talgi glares at Shippo, and starts talking with Inuyasha's voice, "Feh! So what... stop babying him Kagome."

She then stands up and leans forward with an imaginary staff, with the voice of Miroku. "Lady Sango! He looks just like Kilala."

She kneels down beside him, with Sango's voice, "Yeah he..." She stops in shock and grits her teeth. She then swings up and behind, hitting here other hand, "You pervert!" Talgi turns back to Shippo, grinning. His mouth's hanging open, so she bursts out in laughter. "I had heard the monk was know for gropeing. That worked better then I expected!"

After a bit, Shippo's disguise disperses, and he stumbles forward. "What... what are you?"

Talgi stops laughing again, and sits up. "A half-demon!"

"I mean... what kind."

"Well, dog..."

Shippo sits back on the ground, relief on his face.

"And fox demon."

"WHAT?"

Shippo wasn't the only one that had out bursted. Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku had as well, though it was mostly masked by Shippo. Kagome looks around to her three friends. "What's wrong?"

"Didn't you just hear her?" Snaps Inuyasha.

"Yeah... so what? Is there some big deal to being dog and fox demon?"

"It's not a very common thing..."

"Lady Sango is right. Dog, wolf, and fox demons..."

"Oh, you mean canines!"

"Yes, exactly."

"Hey! Don't group _me _in with that wimpy-wolf Kouga."

"Inuyasha please! I'm trying to talk to Kagome." He clears his throat, and continues. "They are not known well to get along, hence Inuyasha's problems with Kouga... other then the most obvious reasons. So in general, it is a rare occurrence. Do you see our reasons for shock now Kagome?"

"Yeah... so how's Shippo dealing?" She looks back through the bushes, Shippo's pacing all over the place. He stops, and looks back to Talgi.

"So... you're fox and dog demon."

"Yep! My mother was half-dog, my father half-fox. And they both were half-human!" She giggles with a grin on her face.

"Do you know foxfire?"

"Well, my father never learned it, so he couldn't teach me. It's hard to learn it on your own... and my dog demon blood doesn't help. I'm too much dog to use it, but I _can _do something like it."

Talgi walks over to a small sapling and stops in front of it. She draws her sword. With her back to Shippo, the young fox demon, and those hiding in the bushes, could get better look at her 'sheath'. It definitely used to be a quiver, but it almost seems that it had been cut to be smaller, so it would fit tighter. Also, there was rope wrapped all the way around it.

The blade can just be seen over her shoulder. She tightens her grip, getting ready, and all down the edge of the sword, a blue light shines. She cuts through the sapling, and brings it over to Shippo. Around the edge of the slice, the wood glows an emberish orange. Shippo grabs the small tree to get a better look at it. Absentmindedly, Talgi rests the glowing edge of the sword onto her hand.

"Talgi!" Shippo screeches.

The half-demon looks down to her hand, and holds it up. "I'm fine. The edge of my Binusayou is just like foxfire... it doesn't hurt me. It barely even feels warm." She holds the blade out to Shippo, already he could feel the heat. He moves his hand and up and down the edge.

"What are you talking about? It's more then warm!"

"Not to me..."

Shippo puts out a finger, touching the edge, and thus burns his finger. He yelps and pulls back his hand. Talgi drops the sword, disengaging the edge. "Shippo! Are you alright?"

He clutches his hand, slightly teary-eyed from the pain. "Not... really..."

"I'm sorry Shippo... I should have warned you! What to do... I think I know something to help." She goes over to the bushes that the others were hiding in. They try to stay as quiet as possible. Talgi doesn't seem to notice, she just grabs a few leaves and brings them back over to Shippo. She's about to put one in her mouth, thinks again, and holds it out for the fox demon. "Chew this up, and put it on the burn."

"Why?"

"It'll help."

Shippo slowly opens up his mouth, and Talgi sets the leaf on his tongue. He starts to chew it and when it's been shredded, spits it out on his finger. Almost instantly, the pain starts to go away. "It works!"

"Good, then you'll be ok?"

"Mmm hmm. I shouldn't of done that..."

Talgi grabs her sword and puts it back in the sheath. "Inuyasha probably would if you hadn't."

"That's it, I'm gonna kill both of them!"

"Inuyasha! You can't do that!"

"Just watch me, Kagome."

"Now may be the time to take action before he does something drastic."

"He's going to bring us to Talgi's attention!"

"Oh... Sit."

Inuyasha gets brought back to the ground, the landing isn't too hard but the beads won't release him. "Let me go!"

"Hi guys." The four look up above the bush, to Talgi peaking over. Miroku, Sango, and Kagome scramble off the ground. Inuyasha's still stuck against it.

"Now look what you've done Inuyasha!"

"Actually, I had the feeling that I was being followed for a while. I knew you were definitely here after I told Shippo I was two different kinds of demon."

Inuyasha finally pushes himself off the ground, he stands up, yelling to Talgi. "Do I look stupid to you! Shippo should have known better then to burn his finger!"

"I didn't mean it Inuyasha." She smiles, "I just couldn't resist, knowing that all of you were over here."

"Feh."

"Um... Talgi. I... It was my idea to follow after you."

"It was? I'd have that Inuyasha was the one not to trust me."

"I...err..."

"I'm kidding Kagome! You didn't trust me, I didn't trust any of you before. It's ok."

Sango steps into the apology. "We... feel kinda bad about this."

"You don't stop, do you? I said it didn't matter." She looks down to her feet, "You ready to head back Shippo?"

"Yeah!" He jumps up to her shoulder.

Talgi starts to walk back to the camp, she turns back to them, smile on her face. "Meet you there!" She then breaks into a run.

The others were left just a bit bemused. Miroku's the first to recover, and he scratches at his head. "That was odd."

Sango and Kagome shake there heads in agreement. "Maybe we should head back too?"

"I think so Sango... oh! The stew!" Kagome covers her mouth. "I hope it's alright..."

"Great. There goes dinner." Inuyasha sprints off ahead of the humans. It doesn't take them too long to start themselves though. Now hopefully, they could make it back in time.

* * *

BC: Chapter 10 is done! Yay! 

Baka-chan: And to think, I still haven't read your first chapter!

QJP: Where'd you come from?

BC: He's always hanging around somewhere.

Baka-chan: Actually, I just walked in through the front doorway.

BC: It's a door, not a doorway Baka-chan.

PLP: (Looking into other room)

Not anymore, BC.

BC: What?

(Looks too)

Why would someone steal my door?

(Others crowd around to look)

PLP: Hey look! There it goes...

(Door slowly crawls away)

BC: (Runs over and grabs door)

What the...

(Party blowers stop dragging door away)

Party blower # 1: We've been caught! What do we do?

Party blower # 2: Play dead!

BC: (Grabs party blowers)

I'll figure this out later... please! Remember to review!

PLP: Anyone else confused?

Baka-chan/QJP: Yep.

PLP: Good, then I'm not the only one.

BC, over and out!


	11. Bloodlines revealed

Love of Friends

Chapter 11: Bloodlines revealed.

* * *

BC: (Pounding door back into place) Hey all! Ready for chapter 11? You better be! 

QJP: BC, what are you doing?

BC: What does it look like? If I leave this door off, who knows who'll come in here! I've got to get it on fast!

PLP: But why are you doing it?

BC: (Stops pounding) Huh?

PLP: Why don't you make Baka-chan do it?

BC: Good idea! (Hands Baka-chan hammer) Go on and fix this please?

Baka-chan: What if I refuse?

BC: (Hits Baka-chan in the head a few times)

Baka-chan: GAH! Talk about knuckle sandwiches for energy...

BC: Forget Demon Diary and just go fix the door!

QJP: Don't order my Boyfriend around!

BC: Why not?

QJP: Because that's my job.

BC: You people give me a headache... and so do the Robo-lawyers! So here's my fic, I may not own Inuyasha, but at least I own this. Enjoy!

* * *

As Inuyasha shot into the camp, humans still trailing behind him, he skids to a halt. Talgi was stirring the stew. When she notices him; she lifts the spoon and points it at Inuyasha. "Good, then the others are coming. Next time you spy, someone should stay back and watch the food." 

"Don't look at me... Kagome's the one that cooked."

"Inuyasha! Why aren't you…?" She spots Talgi, "Oh. Thank you so much…"

"I wasn't going to just let it sit. I don't care for burnt stew."

Miroku and Sango enter the camp. Sango smiles to Talgi. "It's the monk's fault. He distracted Kagome."

"Sango, I did not!"

Kagome waves her hand, "Sango, it really was my fault, I forgot all about the stew."

"So can't we just blame him anyway? He didn't remind you."

Talgi snickers, and both Sango and Miroku look at her. Sango was smiling even wider, and Miroku was glaring. To Miroku, Talgi was acting like she was Shippo's age. Where was the fox demon anyway? "Talgi, you didn't lose our young friend Shippo, did you?"

"No! I sent him off to find a herb."

"Why did you not go yourself?"

"Monk, I didn't think I'd have to point this out to you. Shippo can't exactly reach high enough to stir, so I asked him to look for me." She puts the spoon back into the pot, "You don't mind, do you Kagome?"

"No, it's fine with me. Hey, I'm not a stew expert."

"And what if I mind?"

"Inuyasha… sit."

Inuyasha's forced to the ground, and not as lightly as the last time either. "What the hxxx are you doing, wench? I thought I was gonna get _less _sits!"

"You're not being very nice Inuyasha, what do you expect?"

"How did you do that? And… uh Kagome, the herb doesn't go in the stew, it might taste funny if it did. I was just making sure you didn't mind that I was taking care of your stew."

Kagome looks over to Talgi, the spoon was still in the pot but she wasn't stirring. "Oh, I knew that! I wanted to make sure you did too."

"Kagome, you're such an idiot."

"Don't even get me started on you dog-boy! Besides, you thought the herbs were going in the stew too."

Inuyasha hops up off the ground, "I never said that, now did I wench?"

Talgi watches, a bit confused. "Guys I…"

"You mean to tell me that it would upset you for Talgi to _stir_! You're a real jerk sometimes!"

"Hey, I'd rather not trust it! We don't know what she might throw in there. Some of those weird foods from your time are really bad, or you just can't cook 'em. Either way, she might have added them in because _you _were stupid and left them out!"

"Did he just insult Kagome's cooking?"

"I think he may have Sango."

"Uh-oh."

"SIT!"

Inuyasha's brought down to the ground, the crater he left looked like it should have been after one of Kagome's sit rampages, not just one. After a while of twitching, Inuyasha manages to pull himself out. "What the hxxx was that Kagome?"

"It must be the new prayer beads…"

"Or maybe it's the crazy bxxxx behind them!"

"Are you sure you two aren't mates?"

Inuyasha and Kagome turn to Talgi fiercely, fire seeming to burn in their eyes. Miroku and Sango continue discussing the "show" in front of them.

"You know Miroku... I never realized how much fun this is to watch when you're not involved."

"It is different seeing their 'accused of love wrath' being taken out on another, rather then one of us."

Talgi lets out a nervous laugh and tries to change the subject. "So Kagome… how did you make Inuyasha slam into the ground like that?"

"Oh! Prayer beads, when I say the word sit…" the beads glow and ripple, but don't react, "they can pull Inuyasha to the ground."

"Dxxx it! I hate these things!" Inuyasha snarls.

"So… are you a priestess?"

"Yeah. Something like that…"

"Talgi! Talgi, I found them!" Shippo runs up with a small bushel of green plants. He looks up to Kagome. "Talgi saved the stew! It was bubbling and looked ready to overflow, and she stopped it!"

Kagome giggles, "I see that Shippo."

"What are these plants for, Talgi?"

Talgi tears off a few leaves and chews them thoughtfully, "I like 'em, that's all."

"Can I have some?" The female half-demon nods and Shippo grabs some leaves for himself. "Hey! They're kinda sweet… and they don't have a real grassy taste!"

Kagome bends down and grabs one of the fallen leaves. She tears it and smells, "I think it's something like mint… or maybe it is mint, I don't know. But it does smell sweet."

"Feh, you sent the runt off to find some plant just because you like it?"

"I was planning on sharing… Shippo wanted to help, and it was helping me! He didn't even go too far for it, so you don't need to worry!"

Inuyasha plops down by the fire, "Whatever… are we eating or what?"

Kagome sighs and takes the spoon from Talgi, who doesn't even notice and continues to chat with Shippo as she sits next to him. "Calm down Inuyasha, and I'll dish you out some first." She scoops some of the stew into a bowl for the hot-tempered hanyou and then some for everyone else. When she gets to Talgi, Kagome was the only one left. She starts to hand a full bowl to the half-demon, but rather then taking it, Talgi grabs the empty bowl and scoops in some stew for her self.

"What are you…"

"I'm not part of your pack. I'm just here eating your food. I don't have the right to get my food before you." Talgi smiles as Kagome sits down by Inuyasha, and then she heads for her spot by Shippo. She blows on her first bite, and once it's hit her tongue, she sighs. "It's been too long since I ate a good meal…"

"You're pretty pack oriented for being fox and dog demon." Inuyasha sneers, "You sure you're not wolf too?"

"Dogs live in packs!"

"Not dog demons."

The group continues eating, a lot quieter now. After they're done, Kagome yawns and stretches out her arms. "I think we should start heading to bed. Talgi, it's too late to find somewhere else to camp, so I _insist _you stay with us." Kagome had an evil sort of glint in her eye, and Talgi wasn't about to argue with it. She just nods her head.

The gang try to find places to sleep, leaving Talgi looking into the fire. After some time, she starts to lie down near the fire, but hears a growl and looks up. She can just barely see Inuyasha perched in a tree above a sleeping Kagome and Shippo.

Talgi scrambles up, and stumbles back to the edge of the firelight. She's about to lie down, when Inuyasha growls again. She could almost feel Inuyasha's angry eyes bore into her own, slowly Talgi backs away. She stops when she bumps into something hard. Stretching her hand behind her, Talgi feels rough bark beneath her hand. Glancing toward Inuyasha for approval, and after hearing no objections takes his silence for it, Talgi hops into the tree. Soon enough, she's drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Talgi sits up on the tree branch, and stretches her arms. She looks to the opposite side of the fire, to Inuyasha looking thoughtfully into the flames. A sight just over his shoulder makes her smile, but her gaze returns to the other half-demon. She hops down from the tree and stalks over to Inuyasha, Talgi flops to the ground noisily and stares intently at him. He just ignores her. 

Talgi folds her arms in front of her and gives Inuyasha an evil glare, but still she's ignored. She growls and stands up threateningly. "Look! What's your problem? I can understand if you don't trust me or whatever, but you're treating me like I ran up to you, then went and attacked some village, and then ran back and said I didn't mean to do it! It's crazy, not to mention you're the most overprotective person I've ever met! So spill it already! What do you have against me?"

"Blood."

Such a short and simple word, catches Talgi off-guard. "W-what?"

Inuyasha looks up from the fire. "Blood... you reek of it. It's too old for me to tell if it's human, demon, or whatever else. But for the scent to be that strong, you had to of killed something."

"I... thought it was gone." Talgi looks down to her hands, trying to find the words. "I couldn't smell it anymore! I forgot..."

"Forget you're covered in a scent that strong? Feh."

Talgi clenches her hands, and looks back to Inuyasha. "Well you're not going to have to worry about me, or my scent, for long. Once Shippo's woken up, I'm leaving."

"Just Shippo? What about Kagome and Sango, they convinced you to come here. Or Miroku, he sorta understands you, even if you did seem about ready to kill him."

"I'm sure Kagome will understand." Talgi smirks in self though, "And Sango and Miroku have other things to worry about."

"What?" Talgi gestures past him, and Inuyasha turns to look over his left shoulder. Sango was propped against a tree, asleep. Miroku was resting against her outstretched leg. He sighs. "Guess I better go and rescue the monk before Sango wakes up..." Inuyasha walks over to the two. Carefully, he reaches over Sango, and grabs Miroku under the arms.

"I'll give you a hand." Talgi hops up from her spot, and joins Inuyasha. She grabs Miroku's ankles. On a quiet count of three, they both lift. The two half-demons carry Miroku a ways away from Sango.

Carefully Talgi sets down his feet. Inuyasha passes the monk to her so he can get out from being stuck between Miroku and a tree. He repositions himself in front of Miroku, taking Talgi's spot and pushing her out of the way. From almost completely standing up, Inuyasha drops Miroku.

The monk wakes up startled, feverishly he looks around. Once he spots Inuyasha, he sighs. "Don't tell me... I did it again."

Talgi looks over Inuyasha's shoulder, "You mean to tell me you've done this before?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I just helped save you, that's what."

"I can't believe you... are you stupid?" Inuyasha shakes his head. "You're just lucky Sango didn't wake up."

"Who's lucky I didn't wake up?"

Slowly the three turn to Sango. Inuyasha and Miroku are at a loss of words. Talgi looks between the others and an idea forms while Sango waits for an answer. Talgi steps forward. "I'm lucky. I was walking around and I tripped over you. These two were just saying it's good you didn't wake up, because you might have accidentally attacked me."

Sango leans forward and whispers to Talgi, "It's funny. I'm usually a light sleeper. I can sort of remember drifting off into a deeper sleep. That good feeling you sometimes get just came over me... when it left I woke up."

Talgi laughs slightly nervously, "It's probably nothing to worry about. It's my fault, pacing around and telling these two I planned to leave once Shippo woke. I'm gonna just go...will someone just tell Shippo bye for me?" She turns and gets just a couple of steps when Kagome appears in front of her, Shippo sitting on her shoulder.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"What is it with leaving? I try to make things go as quiet as possible, but you're all against me!"

"Do you... really want to leave that bad?" Shippo sticks out his lip, making it tremble slightly.

"Aw come on Shippo. I'm just trying to get out of the way. If I leave, it's not like I won't come back." She winks. "Inuyasha can try to get rid of me if he wants, but that doesn't mean he'll succeed."

"You know Talgi. You don't have to go. You could always..."

"Stop right there Kagome."

"Oh what's your problem _now_, Inuyasha?"

"How do we know she's not one of Naraku's incarnations?"

"Does she _smell _like Naraku?"

"No... but he may have figured out a way to disguise the scent!"

"So what do you want to do?"

"We check her back for the mark!"

"Wait, someone mind telling me what's going on? What mark do you plan to check me for?"

"It's just to put Inuyasha's mind at ease. We can do it behind those bushes over there. No reason to give these guys an accidental peep show." Kagome starts to lead Talgi away, and Sango runs up.

"I'll go with you Kagome. Shippo, you should watch these two."

Shippo jumps down from Kagome, "Right!" and the three continue on their way.

After a bit of time, the three girls return. Talgi still looks confused, but Kagome and Sango are smiling. "No burns, no scars, not even a spider-shaped freckle! She's not an incarnation."

Shippo runs up to them, "It's about time! I almost couldn't stop Inuyasha from running over there, good thing Miroku helped."

"What?"

Kagome's fist clench, "INUYASHA!"

"Huh." Sango shakes her head, "And I just thought Miroku was the pervert."

"Wait a minute! Before the runt gets me in too much trouble, I have something to say!"

"What, you want it engraved on your tombstone?"

"Will you listen Kagome? You guys were taking too long, if Talgi had turned out to be one of Naraku's incarnations I might not have been able to get over there before both your heads were chopped off!"

Kagome lowers her fists. "Oh."

"Oh is right, do I seem like a pervert to you?"

"You've been caught spying on them enough..."

"Shut up Shippo! All those times I was trying to stop Miroku from spying!"

"Does someone want to tell me who this Naraku guy is now?"

"He's a demon that we're after. Naraku's been collecting jewel shards and killing humans." The others nod in agreement to Inuyasha.

Shippo jumps up to Talgi's shoulder, "He's really evil! Not only can he change his appearance, he sends out fakes of himself to attack us. A lot of times, he wears a baboon pelt."

"A baboon pelt?"

"Yeah, a white one."

"A white baboon pelt? I've seen him before!"

Inuyasha's attention turns to Talgi, "Where?"

"It was a while ago..."

"Dxxx it!"

Miroku sighs, "Another trail leading nowhere..."

"So what happened?"

"Well, I was traveling through a forest when he approached me. He told me that I had caught his attention, and he had a proposition for me. He thought with a little help I could defeat you, Inuyasha."

"Yeah right."

"After he described you, I figured I might have a bit more trouble then that too. I was sure whatever his help was, it must have been something really good. He offered me a jewel shard, and was caught off guard when I had my own. He tried to get me to use it, and he told me a little about all the rest of you. I told him that I was going to look for you, never said I would fight though."

"So he tried to send you after us..."

"After he told me about you guys, I started to pick up as much gossip I could about you. I managed to find you from it."

"Really..." Miroku ponders this for a moment, "No wonder you had such a front up against us. Just what was it that made you want to find us?"

"Uhh..."

"We can talk about it in a bit." Interrupts Kagome, "Right now I say we get food."

"Yeah! That's a good idea Kagome."

Looks like Talgi was saved by the bell.

* * *

"Here we go! I decided to make some Ramen. It'll be done in just a bit." 

"What's Ramen?"

"It's food, and edible."

"I sort of figured that."

"Talgi, what caused you to find us?"

"You're like a dog with a bone, monk."

"I am merely curious."

"It was just something Naraku said about one of you."

Talgi was trying to get out of answering, but Miroku wasn't going to let her. "It would be nice to know, especially if you plan to join us."

"He was telling me your names, and I recognized one. I had... met them before."

"Who?"

Talgi smiles, "It was years back, but I still remembered Shippo. You don't forget someone you're related to."

Shippo's mouth drops. "Related?"

"Yeah, you were a baby and your parents took shelter from rain at my home. Our parents started talking, and figured out we were related. It's a bit distant though."

"I... sorta remember them telling me about something like that. Wow."

"When Naraku said your name, I knew I had to find you. And I did."

"That's so cool!" Kagome passes a bowl to Talgi before she can say anything and rushes to her spot.

Talgi looks to the bowl skeptically, before taking a bite. Her eyes widen. "That's really good!"

Inuyasha slurps his own bite, "Told you."

Talgi gives Inuyasha a sidelong glance and takes a big bite. He cocks his head to the side until he realizes and takes an even bigger bite. Soon they're in a full-blown Ramen feud.

"What's going on?"

"It's a demon thing. My parents used to have little contests, because they were mates, all the time!"

"W-what?"

"Don't worry Kagome. I'm a demon slayer, I've had to learn about demons. I know what Shippo's referring to. It's not just mates, but brothers and sisters too."

"Demons tend to be quite competitive."

"Oh... Heh. I, wasn't worried. Really."

* * *

After a couple of bowls, Inuyasha and Talgi were even. They were both stuffed, and both of them had nothing but the broth to finish off. Talgi strains herself to finish it, but she can't, and falls unable to get back up. Inuyasha gives his own bowl a sickly look, and downs it. 

Kagome shakes her head, "I can't believe how much you two ate!"

"Hah! She thought she could beat me? Hah!"

"Sango, you want to give me a hand with the dishes?"

"Sure Kagome..."

"Inuyasha, make sure nothing happen to Talgi like this. It's partially your fault she ended up this way."

"She'll be fine."

"Whatever, come on Sango." Getting the Demon slayers help, the two carry the dishes to find a stream to clean them in.

"Inuyasha, maybe a short walk will make you feel better?"

"Ugh... It's worth a shot. Shippo, watch Talgi." Inuyasha stumbles off leaving the Kitsune to take care of the other half-demon.

Slowly Talgi opens her eyes, "Did someone find the human driving the cart that hit me? I want to have a word with them..."

"This isn't good..."

* * *

While walking around, Inuyasha recovers. He's not the only one though. Miroku and him stop for a moment to chat, and Talgi ambushes them. Shippo watches from the sidelines as Talgi raps the two in rope and hangs them from a branch in a tree. 

"Let us down!"

"When I get my hands on you I'm gonna... just you wait till I break free from this rope!"

"I don't think so Inuyasha, that's a demon made rope. Demon bulls couldn't break it. But don't worry, I'm only going to keep you two like this for a bit." She grins evilly. "I just want to make sure I'm not crazy."

"You must be to have done this."

"When I was talking with Kagome and Sango earlier, I thought you were mates. They made it perfectly clear that you weren't. But that doesn't mean it's an impossible thing. So I'm going to ask you two... if you could see them as your wives." The two clamp their mouths tightly and swing slightly in the wind. "Sure, now you're quiet..."

"Talgi, Sango and Kagome are coming this way!"

"What? Darn!" She scampers up the tree and unties the rope, lowering them to the ground. She jumps from the branch. "You two just got lucky." Quickly she unties them, and re-wraps the rope around her makeshift sheath. That's when Kagome and Sango walk up.

"So here you are!"

"We've been looking for you."

"We just decided to talk a walk! Right guys?"

The two make small affirmative sounds, and Talgi smiles. Kagome's not exactly sure on what's going on. "Uh, ready to go back to camp?"

"Yep! Let's go!"

* * *

Baka-chan: (Fixing door) 

BC: Now then, to business. (Takes out jar with party blowers in it. Lays party blowers on table) Now would be the time to talk

Party blowers # 1 # 2: (Hold breath)

BC: PLP?

PLP: (Has a blowtorch) Ready when you are!

BC: On three... 1-2...

Party blower # 2: We surrender!

Party blower # 1: Just don't kill us!

BC: Ok PLP, looks like we won't need the blowtorch.

PLP: I really wanted to, too! (Gets idea and sneaks up behind Baka-chan)

QJP: Don't even try it! If you want to burn something, burn the Annoying Purple Fuzzy Chickens!

BC: Leave my bodyguards out of it!

PLP: Someone better give me something to burn before I torch the whole place!

BC: Calm down... In the backyard, there's a wooden version of Naraku running about. Perfect for target practice! Go torch that.

PLP: (Crazy laugh) fire burns things so nice! (Runs off to backyard)

BC: She scares me sometimes... HEY! Where do YOU think you're going?

Party blower # 2: (Stops crawling away) Ahh... nowhere?

Party blower # 1: You were going to leave me here?

Party blower # 2: I was going to go get reinforcements?

Party blower # 1: Oh! Ok then.

BC: What are you two?

Party blower # 2: Would you believe living party blowers?

BC: Why'd you want my door?

Party blower # 1: It was his idea! He wanted to punish you for throwing us out the window... twice.

Party blower # 2: Shut up you idiot!

Party blower # 1: Mom said it's not nice to call names!

BC: Just go home and leave me alone, please?

Party blower # 2: You haven't heard the last of us! (Bounces out door)

Party blower # 1: Don't worry, it won't be for a while. He's going to get grounded! (Follows after his brother)

BC: How much you want to bet that one was Talgi's?

QJP: I'd believe it.

BC: Please leave a review, thanks!

BC, over and out.


	12. Double bubble we're all in trouble

Love of Friends

Chapter 12: Bubbleing to a boil

* * *

BC: (Skips around) Yes, yes yes! Yay, yay, yay! (Trips over a chair. Hits head into a wall.) Owwie!

QJP: BC?

PLP: What are you doing?

Talgi: You're really too hyper for your own good.

BC: I'm not being hyper! Okay, maybe I am. But I have a reason! I got a review, a review from someone that's never reviewed for me before! Thank you The Myth Keeper! Yay. Sooo happy!

PLP: I'm just gonna hide your candy now...

BC: Don't even try it! (Growls)

QJP: Shouldn't have done that...

PLP: Can I have some?

BC: Oh, sure! (Holds out bag)

PLP: (Takes bag and runs)

BC: Give that back! (Runs after PLP)

Baka-chan: PLP stole BC's candy... My money's on BC.

QJP: BC's right, you are always hanging around.

Talgi: BC may not own the rights to Inuyasha but...

BC: (Slams sledgehammer behind PLP) Gimme back my candy!

PLP: Never!

Talgi: She owns the story. And me... sorta. You know what? Just read, it might be good to review too... that should keep her from getting sledgehammer-happy.

* * *

Talgi had split off from the others and was sitting on a rock. The decision had been made for a rest, not to mention Talgi had yet to make a decision of her own. She was still thinking on if she should join up with the others. Later she'd have to ask the least happy about her presence, what they thought. Absentmindedly she grabs at a strip of leather hanging around her neck, and pulls out a small pouch from her shirt. Wrapping her hand about it, Talgi can feel the objects inside. She could smell inside it too. Her mind slowly drifts into memories...

"What's that Talgi?"

Quickly she drops the pouch and turns to the person. "Oh, it's nothing Kagome. Just some things, you know?"

"Oh..." Kagome crouches down by Talgi. She was acting distracted. She was looking at the ground and her hand was on the back of her head. "Um, yeah. I can understand that..."

"Kagome, was there something you wanted?"

"Well..." Kagome looks up from the ground. "It took me a while, but I finally got Inuyasha to tell me his problem... with you. I was talking with Sango… we were planning anyway but, we were wondering if, maybe, you'd like to go and take a bath with us and Shippo."

"Uh, sure I guess..." She had expected Kagome to want an explanation, not come with an invitation. "When were you planning to go?"

"Right now actually. So I guess we better go, Sango and Shippo are waiting." Kagome stands up, Talgi following, and they head back to camp. Talgi looks around, no sign of Inuyasha and Miroku. She spots Sango leaning against a tree talking with Shippo.

As soon as the fox heard footsteps, he looks up, wide grin on his face. "Talgi! You're gonna come!"

Shippo runs up to Talgi's shoulder, causing her to laugh. "Yeah, I could probably use a bath."

"It's going to be lots of fun!"

The four head out. Talgi and Shippo are busy chattering away and as Kagome and Sango head straight down the path, Talgi takes a turn off it. It takes Shippo a moment to realize that Kagome and Sango weren't walking in front of them anymore. "Wait Talgi! Where are you going?"

"To go take a bath... Hey! What happened to the others?"

"Kagome! Sango! Where'd you go?"

"Shippo? Where are you?"

"Over here!"

Talgi backtracks done the path, almost bumping into Kagome and Sango. They too had turned back to figure out what was going on. "What are you doing? The stream's this way!"

"Stream? Talgi, we're not going to a stream."

"But, Kagome said we were going to take a bath!"

"We are!"

"Oh. So are we going to a lake instead?"

Kagome and Sango smile and each one grabs a hold on to one of Talgi's hands. "If you don't know, you're going to have to just wait and see."

"This is going to be so fun!"

The two humans drag Talgi away, Shippo latched onto her shoulder. Sango and Kagome were mostly blocking her vision, but when they walked into the humid and stony clearing, Talgi didn't need it. When they let go, she blinks and looks at all the steam surrounding them. "Huh? Why are we at a hot spring?"

"Oh good, so you do know what a hot spring is!"

"Yeah... is this where we're taking the bath?"

"Yes. You have to admit, it's a lot warmer then a stream."

"I guess so..."

Shippo quickly shucks off his clothes, "Let's go!" and hops into the water.

Talgi shrugs, "Whatever you say."

* * *

The three girls were relaxing in the water as Shippo happily paddles around. Talgi ducks down, her nose just barely above the water's surface, and lunges at Shippo. They're splashing, yelling, and laughing. When the two notice a strange silence coming from the two humans, they slowly look up. Kagome and Sango were blinking in slight shock.

Talgi and Shippo move back and ready themselves to be yelled at, when the girls burst into laughter. Soon they were joining in. Talgi stops abruptly. Her ears twitch at some small sound. Sango's the first to notice.

"What is it?"

"Nothing... I think." Her ears twitch again, and she lowers her voice. "Wait here." Carefully, Talgi sneaks out of the water. While crouching behind a large rock, she quickly puts her clothes back on. Grabbing her sword, she makes her way to some bushes and boulders behind Sango and Kagome.

"We should pretend we haven't noticed anything." Whispers Sango.

"Right..." Whispers back Kagome. "So Sango! What do you think we should have for dinner?"

"I don't know, any ideas?"

" Lots of them! We could have Ramen, or stew..."

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" She couldn't be seen, but that was undoubtedly Talgi.

Sango and Kagome quickly grab towels and stand up.

"Sango, what do you think is going on?"

"I have no idea, but it doesn't sound very good."

Hearing the commotion, who but Inuyasha and Miroku walk up from the other side of the clearing. The two are quite stunned to see the girls... and that much leg. Miroku has a very large grin on his face and Inuyasha's eyes have widened considerably.

"Miroku, we should go before we're seen."

"I do not think so Inuyasha. What if they need our help?"

"With what, holding up their towels?"

"Precisely."

"Lech."

Talgi had been listening to someone else, there was an unintelligible mumble before Talgi yells again.

"Your what? Get out of here, you idiot! I'd have thought you had learned not to annoy me!"

Kagome looks down hopefully to the small Kitsune. "Shippo, can you hear who the other person is?"

He shakes his head to each side. "I can barely hear anything, I've got water in my ears."

Another mumble, and Talgi lets out a menacing growl. The others watch as Talgi hops up on top of a boulder, and springs up into the air, spinning. "Rolling haunch kick!" She lands heavily with a loud thud. For a moment, branches rustle from some unknown breeze. Talgi walks out into view, dusting off her hands. "That takes care of_ that _idiot." She gives a smile to the three still in the hot spring. Looking up above Shippo's head and just between Kagome and Sango, Talgi spots Inuyasha and Miroku. She points to them, "Hey, how long have those two been there?"

Kagome and Sango turn around, time seems to slow as the four look to each other. Then it's broken as the girl's scream and Inuyasha and Miroku high tail it out of there.

* * *

Miroku was running for all his worth, Inuyasha was easily keeping up with him. After they had put some distance between the hot springs, and themselves, they stop and take a break.

"Do you think we're in the clear, Inuyasha?"

"They weren't exactly clothed monk! I don't think they're going to run after us right away."

"You are most likely right. Though I wouldn't mind seeing Sango run after us like that..."

"It's that kind of thing that got us into this mess!"

"Inuyasha, I didn't exactly see _you _leave _until _we had been spotted. If you were so worried, you could have left me."

"Er... Shut up monk!"

Miroku laughs lightly till he spots something strange. A cloud of dust was above the path back the way they had came. "What _is _that?"

Inuyasha watches the dust, soon he can see the figure causing it. "It's Talgi!"

"You don't think Kagome and Sango sent her after us, do you?"

"I'd believe it!"

"What are we to do?"

"I'll fight her, that's what!"

Miroku narrows his eyes to the hanyou, "Oh, yes. That will please Kagome..."

"You're the one that got us here, what do _you _think we should do?"

"It's simple. I purpose we... Run!" After saying this, Miroku turns and continues to run down the path.

Inuyasha looks back and forth between the two, and then runs after the monk. It's not too long before he catches up with him. "I could have taken her, you know!"

"That not why I made my suggestion! All she would have to do is tie us up with that rope again. Then we'd become easy prey for Kagome and Sango's wrath. This is our only choice."

"Well, we can't run forever."

"We don't have to; we only need to lose her!"

"If we're going to lose her, we have to go faster." Inuyasha hops over Miroku, and speeds down the path.

"Inuyasha! You can't just leave me behind!"

He stops swiftly and turns upon the monk, "If you don't want to be left, go faster."

"I am merely human; this is as fast as I go!"

"Dxxx it monk!" Inuyasha runs up to Miroku and lifts him up above his head. Then he sets off again, running as fast as possible.

With each step Miroku bounces wildly. "What are you doing Inuyasha?"

"Saving your axx!"

"Oh. And I was afraid you were trying to kill me." He glances back, Talgi was quite a bit closer then the last time he had checked. "She's catching up!"

Inuyasha turns to look, "Dxxx, she is!"

When Miroku looks back down the path, the monk notices an impending danger to his person. _"Branch!" _Inuyasha drops him just before smacking into the branch, and then trips over him. A lot of dust gets kicked up. After it's settled, Miroku pushes himself off the ground. Talgi was standing nearby, patiently waiting for one of them to move.

"Hey guys."

Inuyasha jumps up, "Wait a minute! Before you start yelling or whatever, there's something I want to say... All I was doing was going for a walk. Miroku was the one spying."

"I was not spying! As you know, we both heard yelling, so we went to investigate. It wasn't till after that we found out it was the hot spring!"

"You can calm down. I don't plan to do anything to you."

"You don't?"

"Nope, but then I wasn't in the hot spring when you two came peeping." Talgi sits down, shaking her head. "If it wasn't for that idiot, you two would probably have never even known the hot springs were there."

"Who were you fighting with?"

"And what was with the name of your attack? Rolling haunch kick or something, right?" scoffs Inuyasha.

"I've done that attack for years; when it was named, I couldn't just refuse it! When someone helps you practice it like they did, you can't. And unless you want me to go through with a couple of Sango and Kagome's suggestions, you'll knock it off! I'm willing to help get you two out of the trouble you're in, remember that."

"Please Talgi, ignore Inuyasha. He has trouble accepting help."

"Watch it monk!"

Miroku chooses to ignore Inuyasha's comment, "So, who were you fighting with? It sounded like you knew them."

"Yeah. It was this wolf demon named Kouga..."

"Kouga? He was spying on Kagome? I'm gonna kill that wimpy wolf..." Inuyasha was cracking his knuckles, and from his face, imaging multiple ways of demolishing Kouga.

"Does he know Kouga?"

"They've met."

"Which way did he go? I'll pulverize him!"

"It sounds like more then they've just _met_."

"The story is this; Kouga kidnaped Kagome. He decided that he would marry her after he found out she could find the jewel shards. Then later, he decided he had truly fallen in love with her. Now he calls Kagome his 'woman'."

"No wonder Inuyasha's in such a jealous rage."

"I am not jealous!"

"Hey, look! What's Kouga doing here?"

"Where?" Inuyasha quickly turns from Talgi, and searches for Kouga.

"Oh sure. You're not jealous."

"I'm not! I just... hate Kouga!"

"Well, my question from the other day's been answered. Now what about you Miroku?"

"Uh... wouldn't it be more productive to think of a plan?"

"Ok fine. You don't need to answer. And I guess you're right. We should think of something." Talgi scratches at her head, trying to think. Inuyasha sits, after calming down some. Miroku follows suit. All three are trying to think of a plan. After a moment, Talgi sharply lifts her head. She stands and heads for the trees. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"Chasing down you two has made me thirsty. I'm going to see if there's a stream nearby. If you don't want me to chase you, and _make _you stay in one spot, don't move from here. I'd also suggest you two concentrate and put your heads together. Because from what Kagome and Sango were ready to do to you two, I don't want to anger them. I'm worried enough about what they'd do if they found out I was trying to help you!"

After Talgi's left, Miroku sighs. "Have you thought of anything yet Inuyasha?"

"What's the point? She's probably going to just tie us up and hand us over anyway."

"She's had plenty of opportunity. If that was her plan, wouldn't she of acted on it by now?"

"If you want to chance it, go ahead. But I'm not. Hm?" Inuyasha stands up, and looks the way Talgi had gone. Something was running toward them.

Talgi jumps through the tree line, tripping, and lands heavily on the ground. Miroku and Inuyasha spring into action. Carefully the monk turns Talgi over. She was panting heavily and clutching one of her wrists. She was covered in smudges of dirt. Blood was matted into her hair and there was a trickle from her mouth. She seemed to be in bade shape.

"What happened to you?"

"I was... ambushed. By a demon. I didn't even get a chance to draw my sword." Talgi groans and goes into a fit of coughing. She turns slightly so she can spit out blood. "I'm fine."

"That's what Inuyasha would say too."

"We should go and find this demon. It may have a jewel shard."

Talgi starts coughing again. Slowly it turns into a wheeze and then, she starts laughing. She sits up, startling the other two. "You won't need to do that."

"Wha...?"

"Oh come on Inuyasha. Doesn't something seem wrong?"

"Yeah, and I'll tell you what's wrong. You just got beaten, and now you're laughing. That wrong enough for you?"

Talgi looks around, searching, and then wipes the blood trickle off her face. She thrusts her and right under Inuyasha's nose. "Oh for...smell!"

Quickly he takes a step back. His face turns to disgust, blood not exactly being one of his favorite scents. But something wasn't right. Inuyasha leans forward and sniffs at her hand. Carefully, he touches the blood and then, tastes it.

"_Inuyasha_? What are you _doing_?"

"It's not blood..."

"Excuse me?"

"It's not blood. It's… what is it?"

Talgi smiles, and walks away. When she returns, her head is completely soaked. There's not a scratch on her. Talgi was holding something up against herself, with some difficulty. She was trying not to drop anything. She hands Inuyasha one of the berries she was holding. He squeezes it, and juice comes out. It surprised him. The juice looked like blood.

"My friends and I, used to use these for our games. Pretending just isn't the same as seeing blood running down someone's face that had just managed to survive a fight against a thousand demons. I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner." She grins widely, "I was the best at tricking others. I even managed to make a group of human children think my arm had been ripped off by one of my friends. They screamed so loudly, I thought I'd go deaf!"

"Will this scheme of yours even work?"

"Well Miroku, people believe what the see. Inuyasha thought it was blood, even with his demon senses."

"What was I supposed to think? You were spitting out blood and talking about a demon!"

"The idea _was _to fool you. So what do you think of my plan?"

"We don't really have another choice."

"There has to be something better!"

"Ok Inuyasha. Any ideas?"

"Uh…"

"Then we continue with Talgi's idea."

* * *

A few moments pass, and soon Talgi is viewing her handiwork. Miroku and Inuyasha each had a variety of gashes on their faces. But while Miroku had a bloody nose, Inuyasha had a mouth full of blood with a trickle coming from the corner. She also puts some dirt smudges on them. They were looking pretty good, but something was bothering her. Talgi draws her sword partially out of the sheath. Inuyasha interrupts her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"You guys are going to need a few actual wounds. Kagome and Sango might become suspicious if you don't. If one of your bandages slip, it could get us all in trouble."

"You're going to use that thing?"

"I must admit. I too am a bit nervous at the thought." Miroku clears his throat. "I mean, it did burn Shippo, and he's full fox demon."

"I wasn't going to use the fox fire! Just the blade itself! I didn't think I'd have to explain this..." She pushes the sword into the sheath and grabs hold of her head. "I guess a sword isn't really a good idea, too big of a cut. So what can we do?" Down by her feet, were some long blades of grass. Talgi reaches down and carefully rips one off. Twiddling it between her fingers, she starts to walk around. She stops in front of Inuyasha and without warning, uses the piece of grass to slice at his cheek.

"What the hxxx?" Inuyasha clutches his face and jumps back.

"Perfect."

"Did I just miss something?"

Inuyasha removes his hand and looks at it. "I'm bleeding! Dxxx it Talgi!"

"Inuyasha, it's a lot better then the alternative. I could _really _beat you if you want."

"Well next time warn me if you plan to cut me!"

Miroku leans in to look at the scratch. "Who knew something as simple as a blade of grass could leave a mark! Well, unless a demon were able to transform such things into weapons."

"I didn't do anything to it. It was the grass itself."

((BC: Note, you can actually cut skin with those big blades of grass that usually grow along fences. I used to have cuts on my hands all the time! When I'm bored, I just sorta like to pull up grass.

Baka-chan: You didn't learn from your mistakes?

BC: Oh sure I did! I don't get cut so often now!

Baka-chan: Never mind...

QJP: Don't even try to understand her.))

"I see."

Talgi adds a few more slashes to Inuyasha. She turns to Miroku. "Your turn monk."

"I feel so lucky..." He winces as Talgi slices at his face. "Maybe we should have just let you attack us."

"Sorry Miroku... there. That's the last one."

"Why are the small injuries the most troublesome?"

"I know what you mean, they sting."

"Suck it up Miroku! Now let's head back to camp."

"You two first. This way I can keep an eye on my prisoners."

"Whatever. Let's just go"

* * *

The three weren't too far from camp now, but still out of hearing distance. Talgi stops Miroku and Inuyasha for a moment. "If Kagome and Sango are to believe you're hurt, I've got to see you pretend you're hurt."

"What are you talking about?"

"They won't believe you're hurt unless you _act _hurt."

"Oh. Uh... ow. My ribs."

Talgi raises an eyebrow, "What about you Miroku?"

He grabs onto his stomach. "Oh, the pain! It's horrible!"

"Uh oh..."

"Well sorry if I'm not up to your half fox standards!"

"I didn't do that bad."

"Miroku, you did better then Inuyasha. But it wasn't very believable."

"It's worked for me before."

"Yeah, but it was while trying to steal from someone!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about Inuyasha."

"Look guys, it's simple. I'll take care of it. So how well can you two walk like you're hurt?"

"I'm not going to do that!"

Talgi sighs, "Then we do this the hard way." She rushes towards Inuyasha and hits her fist into his stomach.

"Gah! What are you doing?"

She then stomps on Miroku's foot. "Ow! Talgi?"

"I'm really sorry about that guys. It's for your own good. And now I won't have to lie, because I might not have done all of this, but I did something. Now we should hurry before the pain wears off." She grabs hold of each of their sleeves. "Come on."

* * *

BC: I got another one! This time from Sara! In fact, I'm gonna do some reviewer responses! I'm going to do them from now on! Umm… Yay! Nothing could make me happier right now.

QJP: BC, what about your candy?

BC: What candy? Do you have candy?

QJP: Uhh...

BC: Kidding. I can't find PLP to get it back... she hid from me.

Baka-chan: You think it might have been because of the sledgehammer?

PLP: I'm back!

BC: It's not fair that you took my candy... (Ears droop slightly)

PLP: Oh, fine then! (Passes back candy-bag)

BC: Yes! Works every time...

PLP: (Eyes narrow) What was that?

BC: Ahhh, on to the reviewer responses!

PLP: B...C...!

BC: I said nothing! Nope! I'm just gonna leave now, see ya! (Runs)

PLP: (Chases BC)

BC: Remember to review!

QJP: (Eats Ramen) Dinner, _and _a show...

Baka-chan: Where's mine?

QJP: Make your own.

BC: Bye!

* * *

_QJP_: That _is _why I said that. You boss Baka-chan around more then... well, a boss. And I know you think it's fun! This a soon enough update?

_The Myth Keeper:_ Hee, I like the party blowers too... but they didn't need to steal my door! At least they didn't steal my candy. Then they'd be in _big_ trouble. Here's your updatedness. I'm happy you like my story, yours are pretty good too!

_Sara: _Ooh! Well written, that's always good to hear... You think the plot's cool? Yay! Glad you liked it, and thank _you _for reviewing!

_PLP:_ Is it really your first review? Huh... What are you crying for? You and QJP have _more _then 36 put together! I'm the one that should be crying. Nee...

_the unconscious pervert: _Lookie lookie! It's Baka-chan! Bout time for your review... and of course Inuyasha can smile. Haven't you ever seen that one episode? Granted he pulverized Myoga right after but... not the point. It's proof!

BC, over and out.


	13. Tattle Talgi

Love of Friends

Chapter 13: Tattling Talgi!

* * *

Cricket #13: I am the host of this chapter! As BC's right hand cricket, I get some face time now and then. But my appearances are short, so she said I can run the show today. (Evil grin) 

BC: Just don't run wild with your duties, 13. Remember, I don't own Ear-boy and the Scrappy-squad. Don't damage them.

Cricket #13: I won't, promise. Hey Boss... by the way, got you a present. (Tosses box of Pocky into next room)

BC: (Chases after Pocky) POCKY! (Door slams shut behind)

Cricket #13: That should do it... BC's recently fallen in love with the stuff. Almost as much as Ramen. Now readers, I reveal to you, my secret plan! (Pulls cord, curtain falls off TV revealing PLP, QJP, and Baka-chan traveling through a dank tunnel) They're trapped within BC's Maze of Doom! Of course I can't kill them... but I can cause mayhem! Now let's check in on them, shall we? (Hops on control to turn up volume)

* * *

(In Maze of Doom) 

PLP: 13 said BC wanted to show us something down here, right?

Baka-chan: Yeah, but who cares?

QJP: (Smacks Baka-chan in the arm)

Baka-chan: Ow!

QJP: Then be nice.

PLP: At least we haven't seen any APFC.

Baka-chan: They probably heard QJP was on her way.

QJP: (Puts on bib that says "APFC is finger-lickin' good!")

Baka-chan: Glad I'm not an Annoying Purple Fuzzy Chicken...

PLP: Why does BC have a Maze of Doom anyway?

QJP: To store torture devices, keep the APFC from pecking everything, and keep excess Ramen.

PLP: She must have a map or something, because I'm all ready lost.

Baka-chan: Probably. I'm surprised she can even find her way to the kitchen.

(PLP and QJP do a double-whammy hit on Baka-chan)

Baka-chan: (Rubs both sides of his head) What was that for?

* * *

Cricket #13: Now then, neither I nor BC own Inuyasha or the characters. Though Talgi, of course, is the Boss's creation. Now... enjoy chapter 13! Review, or feel the wrath of the Cricket Army!

* * *

Kagome and Sango were sitting by the fire. When the bushes rustle with the approach of someone, they halt their conversation and look up. Talgi was leading two very familiar, very damaged, guys. She sets them by the fire, and Kagome and Sango stand up. 

"Talgi? What..."

"Come with me." The half-demon turns swiftly, and walks out of the clearing. The girls look to each other for a moment, then follow.

Shippo carefully walks into the camp, trying to balance the large bucket of water he was carrying. Kilala was trotting at his heels. He spots Inuyasha and Miroku, and almost drops the water. He's about to run forward, but stops. Shippo thought they were seriously hurt, but he couldn't smell much blood. Something was wrong. He whispers to Kilala to wait there, and follows after the disappearing girls.

* * *

Slowly they were traveling out of hearing distance of camp. Kagome couldn't wait much longer. She reaches forward and grabs Talgi by the shoulder, stopping her from walking farther. "Talgi, what did you do to them?" 

"Well... You two gave me a number of choices."

"Yes, but those two almost look half dead!"

"That's not my fault." Talgi folds her arms up behind her head and slowly walks past Kagome and Sango. This was going smoothly... that is till someone started shouting to them.

"Talgi! Kagome! Sango! Inuyasha and Miroku, they're...!"

Talgi leaps forward and covers the kitsune's mouth. She nervously laughs, "Yep. Don't you worry Shippo. We know they're hurt. They'll be fine."

"Fine? They don't look fine!" Kagome was starting to look just a bit angry. Sango too…

"Were you _trying _to kill them?"

Talgi stands up, waving her arms to the enraged girls. "Wait a minute! Don't get mad at me! I was trying to do those guys a favor. I was chasing after them, and had them cornered by a cliff! The land gave way, and they went sliding down. Miroku was pretty lucky that Inuyasha broke his fall..."

Kagome folded her arms in front of her. "If those two fell down a cliff, why are you pretending to have beaten them?"

"Do you know how embarrassing it is to be captured because you fell down a cliff? Actually, Miroku wasn't too bad with it. But Inuyasha kept on trying to fight me."

"That does sound like Inuyasha."

"I guess you're right about that Sango. Guess we better go back and administer first-aid." They start to walk back to camp, but Talgi steps out in front of them.

"Wait a minute. You sure you want to do that?"

"Well, of course we are."

"Neither of you managed to punish them. Instead you sent me after them, and I didn't even do much to them. They did it to themselves. Even if they_ are _hurt, that's not much punishment. So, there's not going to be even a slight chance that one of you may snap, and make their injuries worse?"

Kagome opens her mouth to say something, but stops and hangs her head. "You may have a point there..."

"Besides, I feel kind of bad those two got _that _hurt. Me and Shippo will take care of them. I'll even make a special... demon salve for Miroku, so that his worst wounds will be nothing more then scratches by tomorrow. Ok?"

"I guess we leave the bandaging to you."

"My back-pack is still back at camp. Shippo will show you what to use from my first-aid kit. I guess Sango and I can keep ourselves busy until you're done." Kagome and Sango turn, and walk away.

Shippo waits a moment before turning to Talgi with his eyebrow raised. "Demon salve?"

"I know, but I was put on the spot! I had to think of something."

"But a demon salve? Why are you even helping those two anyway?"

"It's my fault they got in trouble."

"No it's not."

"Ok, so it's not. But it doesn't take much to see something between those four! And I doubt something like this puts Miroku and Inuyasha into Sango and Kagome's good graces."

"It doesn't... but this isn't the first time it's happened."

"And yet the still act like mates!" Talgi sighs and sits down, setting her head on her hand. "I thought Kagome and Sango were lying to me before. That's why I wanted to check with Inuyasha and Miroku, but they denied it too. Maybe I'm just crazy, maybe I'm imagining things. It's not like I have any experience with this kind of thing."

"You're not crazy. My mom and dad told me lots of stories before they died. Some of them were about them being younger, and had first met. It's the same sort of stuff!" He hits his fist against his hand. "It's the same thing... I just know it."

"Hey Shippo… what would you say to partnering up? It sounds like you could use the help, and I'm sure it would be a lot more fun with two."

Shippo grins, "Sounds good to me."

"Good, then let's go and clean up Miroku and Inuyasha." Shippo climbs up to Talgi's shoulder, and she runs back to camp.

* * *

Talgi skids to a halt, kicking up dust, and Inuyasha looks up from the fire. "What took you so long?" 

"I had to convince Kagome and Sango to let me bandage you two."

"We can bandage ourselves Talgi. So there's no need."

Shippo hops off her shoulder, "Oh, you two aren't still mad are you? It was for your own good. I feel bad about attacking you! How about after you two get 'better', I give you a chance to get even with me? I really was just making it believable for Kagome and Sango."

"Feh. What did you tell them happened, anyway?"

"I told them you fell down a cliff."

"What?"

"I had to; otherwise they'd have beaten _me. _They thought I had tried to kill you!"

"Captured by falling down a cliff…" Miroku sighs, "I'm glad I survived."

"That's because Inuyasha broke your fall!"

"I did _what_?"

"Look, they believed everything! I even manage to explain why Miroku will have nothing but scratches tomorrow."

"What did you say?" Miroku was going to be sure he knew this story inside out. That way if he was asked anything, he could answer along with Talgi's story.

"That I... was going to use a demon salve."

"_A demon salve_?"

"I know! I know..."

"Sorry to interrupt but I must ask, do either of you remember the human here? Does someone want to inform me of what you are talking about?"

"Monk, as far as anyone knows, there's no such thing as a demon salve. It's made up!"

Talgi hangs her head slightly, "I had to tell them _something_!"

"What's so unbelievable about a demon salve?"

"Miroku, demons heal faster then humans! Most of the time they don't even use bandages… unless it's a severe wound. Why would they bother making a demon salve?"

"Ok! I know how stupid it sounds! But right now, me and Shippo need to bandage you guys up before Kagome and Sango come back."

"Why is the runt here? It's not like you really need his help. He's just going to tell Kagome and Sango what you did."

"Shippo wouldn't do that!"

"He better not... for his sake."

Talgi growls, "Inuyasha! He's trying to help you, can't you at least be a _little _grateful?"

"Feh."

"I'm not going to tell Kagome and Sango." Shippo walks over to the bucket he had left behind, and carries it by the fire. Kilala follows him. "Though if you're going to be mean, I don't see why I should help." He sets it down, and some of the water sloshes out.

"Because _I_ need your help. I need all the fox demon help I can get to make this believable to Kagome and Sango"

Shippo smiles, "Well… then I guess I can help you with them. It's important to help out family." He walks over to Kagome's backpack and starts rummaging through it. Soon he's found the first-aid kit and hands the white box over to Talgi.

"What the…?" Talgi turns it and looks at all of the sides, "What is this thing?"

"It's called a first-aid kit." Shippo pulls open the box, "See? It's got all sorts of healing supplies in it."

"Bandages and..." Talgi carefully twists open a tube, and cringes at the smell. "Ugh... and some weird ointments. All of this is medicine?"

"Yep, this too." Shippo rummages through the first-aid kit before holding out a box of band-aids. "They're bandages that stick to your skin."

"With all this, we should be able to fool Kagome and Sango!" She takes a cloth out of the first-aid kit and dunks it in the water. Talgi then starts to clean blood and juice off of Inuyasha's face, as Shippo works on Miroku. The work goes slow, because each separate 'wound' is washed, dried, and then bandaged.

"What is taking you so long?"

"Inuyasha, Kagome and Sango already saw you and Miroku. We don't know how good of a look they gave you two. They'll think it funny if you have a bandage where there was no wound. Besides, if they come to check on you, blood will be a good sign that you are still being bandaged."

"Well can't you hurry up?"

Talgi pushes up his sleeves, one at a time, and completely wraps up his arms. "There. Just don't complain to me if you wake up sticky." She dusts off her hands and walks over to Shippo still bandaging Miroku. "Do you have much more to do?"

Shippo stands on Miroku's knee and tries to shakily place the band-aid on his face. Once it's on, he stands back to look at his handiwork. "I think so..."

"Good. I'll be back in awhile. Good luck with meeting Kagome and Sango. Just so you know Shippo, Miroku's ankle is hurt, and Inuyasha's ribs. I'll try to not be too long. See you in a bit."

* * *

An hour and so had passed, and when Talgi didn't show up before the food was done, Shippo volunteered to find her. Carefully he peers past trees, he didn't want to accidently miss her. Soon the path opens up to a stream. In the middle of it, waist deep, is Talgi holding out her shirt to let the current run through. Her back was to him. 

"Oh! There you are Talgi... what are you doing?"

She glances over a bare shoulder and smiles, "I figured if I washed up, it might be good to wash out my clothes too." Talgi puts the sopping shirt back on and slowly walks back to the shore. "It's the demon cloth. My clothes may be able to repair any damage, but blood just soaks in." She frowns and grabs her sheath.

"Why where you so covered in blood anyway?"

Talgi opens and closes her mouth, unsure of what to say. She then breaks out with a small smile. "It's nothing to worry about. Um, why did you come and find me?"

"The food's done."

"That's good to hear." She bends down slightly, "Want a ride back to camp?"

Any questions left disappear as he gleefully shakes his head. He scrambles up, and Talgi takes off.

* * *

Talgi slows, and then trots into camp. Kagome was just placing down a bowl for her and Shippo. It was unbelievable how hungry she felt! But with Miroku and Inuyasha's escapade, no one had gotten any lunch. 

She plops down, and Shippo just about leaps for his own bowl. Soon they were attacking their dinner, very ferociously. She pauses, remembering she had something to ask. Neatly she lays down her bowl, and then clears her throat nervously. "Miroku, Inuyasha... what do you two think of me traveling with all of you. I'm sure Shippo would agree, Kagome's the one that asked me, and I was sure Sango didn't mind. I might be wrong, but I don't have any idea what you two think."

Miroku and Inuyasha glance at each other, then the monk solemnly sets his bowl to the ground. Inuyasha glares at Talgi. "Well, _what do you want_?"

Talgi tilts her head to the side, "What?"

"You know, or you want to know, what we think of you joining. But it's up to you. We plan to kill Naraku. If you don't like the idea, we're not going to force you. But he's strong... we can be killed at any time, but we have reasons, and you don't."

"It's good to hear you have reasons. But if you plan to kill Naraku, it's not my business. I only spoke with him for a short time, so it's not like I care what happens to him. And if you do start to fight with him, I didn't plan to just let myself get killed."

"So you mean to stay with us then?" asks Miroku, his eyebrow raised with the question.

"There are worse things I could do. Maybe I can even help out with demons now and then."

"Don't say we didn't warn you." Inuyasha looks back down to his bowl and continues eating.

"I'm glad you did."

"So you're really gonna stay with us Talgi?"

She scratches behind her ear, "Well, it's not like I have anything better to do Shippo."

"Good... now there's someone else to stop Inuyasha from picking on me all the time."

"Why you little..."

"Try fighting someone your own size!"

"Like you Talgi? You're shorter then me!"

"Inuyasha, just Sit."

Right on cue, Inuyasha falls flat on his face.

* * *

Cricket 13: Wonderful... let's check on the others now, shall we? (Hops on remote. Goes through various tunnels trying to find PLP, QJP, and Baka-chan.) Where'd they go? 

QJP: Looking for us?

PLP: (Drops large yarn ball nearby.)

Cricket 13: Uh-oh...

BC: (Door opens up) Hi guys! I miss anything?

Baka-chan: Yeah, the death of Cricket 13!

BC: Huh?

QJP: He trapped us in your maze of doom.

BC: How'd you guys get out? I usually have enough trouble when I have a map.

Baka-chan: See what I... (He notices QJP's death glare and decides to shut-up.)

PLP: The other day, you told me about that Greek myth...

BC: Which one?

PLP: I don't know. You were hyper on sugar and rambling, the only thing I caught was using a ball of yarn to get out of a maze.

BC: I think it's twine in the myth...

PLP: That's what I said.

BC: Sure! That works... um, so you guys found my collection, aye?

Baka-chan: The yarn balls filled a whole room! We had to run into it eventually! Why do you even _have _a yarn ball collection?

BC: It's not my fault... (Puts tips of pointer fingers together.) I'm skittish, I bat at things, I love milk, and I like yarn balls. What more do want from me?

QJP: The yarn probably saved our lives!

BC: That's good at least...

PLP Where'd Cricket 13 go?

QJP: He got away?

BC: Umm, please make sure to review! On to reviewer responses!

* * *

_QJP: _(Sighs) QJP... 

_QJP's actual review:_ You already reviewed this chapter because you don't pay attention to me. Oh well, you gave me another review, so it's ok! And praise, that's a good thing too. Even if I've told you most of what happens.

_MyMotherToldMeNo:_ Don't worry about not writing reviews for the other chapters. You read and that's the important part. I'm just glad to get any reviews.

_PLP:_ I hate your computer too, and Talgi was supposed to be at least a bit funny. And yes, I have sliced my fingers on grass before. It's easier to do then a paper-cut. So don't call me a weirdo!

_Peteh8ter: _I hope this was fast enough for you, I had my Birthday April 6 and MEAP (Fancy test the state of Michigan puts poor innocent students through). Thanks for calling it interesting! And personally Inu/Kag and Mir/San is the only way to go. Rarely do I even read other pairings. But point is, Inuyasha and Kagome are just meant to be.

BC, over and out.


	14. Clash of the halfdemons!

Love of Friends

Chapter 14: The Guys' "Girl Talk" & clash of the Half-demons!

* * *

Cricket 13: (Hiding in a corner, cowering) 

BC: (Protecting Cricket 13 from PLP, QJP, and Baka-chan) Guys! Calm done!

QJP: _Calm down? _

PLP: How can we calm down! He locked us in your Maze of Doom! (Lightening and thunder flash, lights flicker)

Baka-chan: Knock off the special effects!

BC: (Laughs sheepishly) Sorry. Couldn't resist.

QJP: This is no time to joke!

Baka-chan: We could have died down there!

BC: I'm sure he wouldn't have let that happen...

PLP: Don't care! I'm killing him!

BC: (Laughs nervously) Look, he's my responsibility. I'll punish him. (Reaches down and grabs Cricket 13) You guys just enjoy the fic. Remember readers, I don't own the Inuyasha gang. So don't sue me. Come on 13! (Swiftly walks out of the room)

* * *

Soon after they had awoken, Inuyasha and Miroku quickly freed themselves of their bandages. Sango and Kagome were amazed that the demon salve had worked so well on Miroku. While Kagome started breakfast, Sango decided to examine the few wounds Miroku still had, just to make sure that they were healing well. Carefully, she inspects each mark on his arms and face, "Wow Miroku, you're really not looking too bad." 

"Why thank you for the compliment, Sango."

Inuyasha, sitting by the fire, shakes his head. "Monk you never learn, do you?"

Sango looks between Inuyasha and Miroku, and is left just a bit confused. It didn't help that Kagome, standing by the fire, or Shippo and Talgi, a little ways behind her, were all trying to stifle giggles. She was just wondering what compliment he was talking about, when it hits her. Sango blushes, "W-what are you talking about Miroku? I'm just saying your injuries are looking much better!"

Miroku gives her a sly smirk as he unrolls the sleeve of his robe. "Oh, my mistake." He then goes and sits down by the fire, watching as Sango's face reddens as well as when she eventually turns away in embarrassment.

Talgi just happens to be right there and waiting, a questioning look on her face. "Are you okay Sango?"

"_Yes_! It's just... _ooh_, that monk!" Sango stalks over to the fire, hiding her uneasiness with anger, and sits as far away from Miroku as possible.

"Kagome! Is the food done yet?"

"Inuyasha, that's the third time that you've asked me that..." Kagome momentarily stops stirring and carefully looks in the pot. "And the answer is still no!"

"I was only asking wench!"

"Well, even if I'm not on this journey for the same reason as the others, looks like I won't ever be bored." Jokes Talgi.

Shippo smiles up at her, "Are you kidding? This is only the beginning!"

* * *

It only being the beginning appeared to be true. Inuyasha and Kagome's normal arguing, as well as the occasional wayward hand from Miroku, kept things from getting boring. And in the slower times, Talgi would shimmy up trees and amuse Shippo. Compared to the last two days, this one was dull, and Talgi had taken to the trees. 

Carefully, she hangs off the branch by her legs and swings her arms. "Hey Shippo!" Shippo giggles and the others smile, except for Inuyasha. He just ignores her... but he'd probably be more amused if he wasn't so concerned about Naraku.

After scrambling up she starts to jump from branch to branch as Shippo runs bellow. After getting the hang of it, Talgi jumps backwards, flips, and uses her hands to get even higher leaps; all without stopping. Things are going well for a while till she flips backwards a couple times and doesn't realize that there's no branch to land on. Shippo tries to warn her, but too late, and she takes a hard hit from the ground.

Shippo runs forward, "Talgi! Are you all right?"

"Yeah… it just knocked the breath out of me. And I think I hit my head."

"Are you stupid? You're a half-demon and you can't even land on your feet!" Inuyasha shouts from a ways back on the path.

Talgi rises from the ground and rubs a slight bump on her head. Then she waits for the others to come nearer. "I can too land on my feet, but thanks so much for the concern Inuyasha."

"Then next time, land on your feet!"

"Are you sure you're okay?" worries Kagome. "That bump looks pretty bad."

"Really! I'm fine. Let's, just keep going..." She walks farther down the path, but stops at the edge as it disappears into forest and vegetation. "Or maybe we can't go any farther."

"Let me see." Inuyasha runs forward to look and soon the others crowd around. Past the overgrown path are rocks and a lot of steam.

Kagome's face fills with glee, "Oh wow! A hot spring!"

"Just great." Sighs Inuyasha.

"The path doesn't go any farther." says Miroku. "Maybe we should set up camp. I know it's much too early to stop for your liking Inuyasha, but it's going to take time to find a new path."

"Yeah!" Talgi pipes in, "We could use some early resting, I'm exhausted. If I'm getting tired, these humans must be half dead."

Miroku clears his throat. "I do pride myself in not being quite _that _tired yet, Talgi."

"Well, neither am I. But Inuyasha didn't need to know that."

"Whatever." Inuyasha's attention turns to Kagome. "So I guess that means you plan to come back here after we set up camp?"

Talgi grabs hold of her head, "I hope not. I don't think I could stand hot water so soon."

"Well... it actually wasn't that long ago since our last trip to the hot springs. Why don't you and Miroku go on ahead? We'll set up camp. Don't worry about a thing. Let's go guys!" She smiles and pushes Sango, Talgi and Shippo ahead of her. Before completely leaving, Kagome waves to Inuyasha and Miroku, who are looking slightly perplexed. "Have fun!"

* * *

A little later, the guys are relaxing in the hot spring with serene looks on their faces. Miroku interrupts the picture by yawning and stretching out his back muscles. "It was very kind of Kagome to suggest that we use the hot springs." 

"Hm..."

Miroku sighs and leans against the rocks behind him, "The only way this could be better is if we had some food, a little sake, and the company of some lovely young women." He laughs, but before long there's a sharp pain at the back of his head. Quickly he clutches at it, "What was that?"

Slowly Inuyasha opens his eyes. He moves next to Miroku and leans to give an unconcerned look over the short, rocky, 'wall'. "It's a rock." He picks it up and shows it to the monk, it seemed to be the only thing possibly out of place. The color of it was off from the rocks of the surrounding area.

"And how did I happen to be hit by this rock?"

Bushes behind Miroku lightly rustle and Inuyasha glances at them, "Somebody threw it."

"I thought that might be the case..."

Slowly Inuyasha rises, and suddenly the bushes rustle furiously. Quickly he runs over to them and pushes down the tops to see over it. On the other side is Talgi, boredidly resting her head on her palm with two buckets of water sitting nearby. Without looking up, she waves in a small greeting. "Yo."

"Talgi? What the hxxx are you doing here?"

"Don't ask me! Kagome and Sango dragged me along." She grabs the buckets and hangs them over her shoulders, "I think they were going to dump cold water on you guys, and then Sango got angry at Miroku. And then, when you got up Inuyasha, they were sure you'd jump over the bush and attack. Probably a sight they'd rather avoid. It's a sight I'd want to avoid too, but I think I was brought along to be a diversion or something. Good thing you didn't jump over. Now if you really don't mind, I'm going back to camp. I don't want to be anywhere near all this hot water. See you later." She turns and walks away, mind still churning in thought. 'Dragging Shippo and me into this... and then Sango threw that rock. They probably weren't even planning to use any of this stupid water...'

Inuyasha shakes his head and gets back into the hot spring. "See monk, it's you that causes all this trouble! Sango reacts to your pervert ways! And then Kagome goes on about it being her only why to 'act out her frustration' or something. If you would knock it off and go tell her how you feel about her, you wouldn't get hit so often, and you'd get me in less of your messes!"

"Inuyasha, I don't believe you are really the one to be handing out advice."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sango lost her village, her father, and her brother is under the control of Naraku. I would not wish, and will not, for dear Sango to grow stronger feelings, only to lose me if Naraku can not be stopped. And if by some miracle, she did agree to bear my child, and we fail to stop him in time, I would also not wish to place such a burden on her. So I must not act on those feelings I have... but _you _Inuyasha, are just being foolish."

"Who are you calling foolish?"

"Two women Inuyasha! _Two_! One alive now, the other just barely even _being_! Yet, you can not decide."

"Monk, it's not any of your business! So just shut up before I beat you!" 

"Fine! But think of this for a moment Inuyasha, when has Kagome tried to _change _you!"

Inuyasha was in the process of stepping out of the hot spring, "What?"

"When has she tried to make you change yourself from being what you are?" He sighs and rubs his temple, "I really do not mean to cause grief, and I apologize. But it isn't fair, to any of you... are you ready to head back to the others? I believe I have had enough of this spring, for one day."

"Yeah, sure. I'm ready to go."

* * *

Inuyasha sits up in the branches of a tree, watching the setting sun and thinking. For a long time, Kikyo had been the only human other then his mother, to treat him normally. And yet what they had, had been so easily broken. He had loved her, and would have done anything for her. He was once going to become _human_ for her. He didn't know how he'd even be able to survive in such a weak state. But he hadn't given a second thought of what would happen after. Just as he hadn't about going to the underworld with her. And he would have if he had not remembered already making a promise to Kagome. 

On the other hand, Kagome liked how he was, as a half demon. She had said so at least once before. And she didn't really think much about him being a half demon, though she did seem to enjoy his ears. It bothered her as much as Shippo being full demon did.

Kikyo had died, she would never again be how she had been. Love and hate both flowed from her, and through her. And while he himself didn't hate her and probably never could, he... didn't love her. Least, not how he had before. He missed how she used to be, but it seemed he had finally realized that Kikyo moved around and seemed to be alive but she wasn't _there._ The only thing that he wished for her now, was for her to just rest. And to get revenge for her on Naraku. Kagome though, was _alive._ Maybe, maybe...

"Hey Inuyasha "

Inuyasha looks down, Talgi was standing by the tree waving up at him. "What do you want?"

Talgi jumps from branch to branch and stops next to Inuyasha, She sits down and swings her feet off the side. "Kagome asked me to track you down. Gee Inuyasha, you look to be thinking pretty deeply up here. Aren't you worried about hurting something?" She giggles, but Inuyasha just rests his head in his hand and drifts back to contemplating, without really realizing it. "Inuyasha, I was just kidding."

"Whatever."

"Come on, dinner's done." She slides off the branch and lands on the ground, "See, I told you I could land on my feet!"

Inuyasha smirks and slides off as well. Then he starts to meander away. "Sure, when you jump you can… but not when you're falling."

"Hey! I couldn't catch myself in time!" Talgi makes faces at the back of his head, but has to stop to catch up with him. She runs forward and slows when she finally reaches him. "I have a favor to ask."

"After making faces at me? Yeah right."

"What, do you have eyes in the back of your head?"

"No, it's not like you even tried to hide them!"

"Look, now I'm serious. I really do need your help."

Inuyasha folds his arms and sighs, "What do you want?"

"A fight."

"What?"

"A training fight, with swords. I need a target that fights back. And I told you that you'd get a chance to get back at me for that punch in the stomach."

"All I'd have to do is drop my sword on you, and win."

"Well if you agreed I wasn't going to use swords. There'd be too much of a chance of killing each other. I was going to use something else."

Soon the two are walking again, but slowly. Talgi was thinking about something. "So you really believe your sword to be that great?"

"Well, maybe it's not _that_ heavy. But it's powerful. You wouldn't be able to stand up to it for long."

"Ha."

Inuyasha pulls the sword from its sheath to show it to her. "Look for yourself."

She raises an eyebrow, "This old and rusted junk is supposed to give me problems? I'd be surprised if it could cut through a fish."

"I used to think so too, but the Tetsusaiga transforms." He holds out the sword and it changes before Talgi's eyes.

"Can I take a closer look at it?"

"Huh? A closer look?"

"Yeah, my father knew a lot about swords and taught me some things. A transforming sword is something I have to get a closer look at. I'm not going to run off with it." Quickly she draws her own sword and points the handle to him. "Here, you can take a look at mine if it will make you feel better."

After staring at the handle, Inuyasha accepts it and cautiously hands her his own sword after untransforming it. He only takes a quick look at the foreign sword in his hands. A little longer, wider, heavier, and made of a thicker metal then the average, but it was still in the normal katana shape. He was more concerned about his sword being in Talgi's hands.

Talgi though, was carefully looking at the details of the blade. She waves it around a bit. Inuyasha can see what she was trying to do. "Don't expect it to transform for you. The only reason you can even get through the barrier is your human blood. It took me awhile to…" All the while he had been talking, Talgi waved the sword around. His pause had come after Talgi slashed at the air in a fighting pose and the sword transformed. As comical as it was to see Talgi strain at the sudden new weight, It left him shocked. "How the hxxx did you do that so fast?"

As soon as Talgi hears this as Inuyasha's reaction, she lowers the sword till it almost touches the ground, and puts one of her hands on the back of her head. "It's the same sort of thing you do with the Binusayou, though in a sideways sort of way…"

"Oh." Inuyasha lifts up Talgi's sword, looking intently at it.

"But don't try to use it!"

"What, I'm just supposed to let you show me up at being able to transform my own dxxx sword? I don't think so."

"No, it's not that. If you try it, you're going to end up hurting yourself…"

"You don't need to make stupid excuses like that, just say you don't want me messing with your sword!"

"No really! It's how the sword was made. Some of its power comes from blood of the owner, and if anyone else tries to even just use it in a fight, the fire heats up the handle. It can char a humans hands till they can no longer be used, or a demon and half demon to a whole lot of pain."

He gives the object a small look of distrust and holds it an arm's length away, "So it's been smeared with your blood?"

"Um, actually I don't know if it has. I can't remember, but at least it has both of my parent's blood on it. It has something to do with blood, fire, and chanting, but I don't know exactly how. And it's not like there's still blood on it."

Inuyasha shoves the handle of the blade towards Talgi. "You could have told me all that before handing me this thing "

"But it doesn't hurt me, so I wasn't thinking about that." She takes her sword and puts it back into its sheath. Then she tries to untransform Inuyasha's sword, but no matter what she does, it won't. "Um, can you give me a hand?"

He sighs and puts the Tetsusaiga in its sheath, making it untransform; "You're hopeless."

"Yeah? Ok then. After dinner, we fight. We'll see how hopeless I am."

* * *

After what has seemed like forever, Talgi and Inuyasha enter the camp. Kagome had just about been ready to ask Sango and Kilala to try and find them. She runs up to them almost instantly, it wasn't too hard to tell she had been worried. 

"What took you guys so long? I didn't think you'd have that much trouble finding him "

"Well…" Talgi starts to say, but Inuyasha interrupts her.

"I ran over to the next village, trying to find out anything about Naraku."

"Oh no wonder then. Don't you ever rest…? Talgi, are you all right?"

After hearing Inuyasha's excuse, Talgi had tilted her head in confusion. But now that Kagome was talking to her, she snaps it back into a more natural place. "Um… Yeah! Sure! I'm just fine! Nothing wrong with me!"

Kagome wasn't exactly convinced, but she brushes it off as Talgi being Talgi, and leads Inuyasha and Talgi to the campfire. As soon as the food is set before them, the two half demons start to devour it. She watches them in shock, "If you two were that hungry, you should have come back sooner!"

"It's not that." Inuyasha sets down his bowl and stands up. "We'll be back later. Come on Talgi."

Talgi looks around at the sound of her name. Once she realizes what's going on, she looks at the last of her dinner. Looks like she wasn't going to get anymore. Rather then take the time to finish up, she stuffs as much into her mouth as she can and runs after Inuyasha, waving goodbye to the others.

And then only Sango, Miroku, Kagome, Shippo, and Kilala were left. Shippo was watching after them, his arms folded in front of him and a frown on his face. "Um, that was just a little strange... right?"

The others nod slowly, or meow, in agreement.

* * *

"So why were you being so secretive?" They were a good distance from camp, but Talgi had only just cleared her mouth. 

"I didn't want them to watch us fight."

"Why? In case you lost or something?"

"No. So they wouldn't distract me." He stops in a mostly clear area. "This should be a good place. So, what are we going to use instead of our swords?"

Talgi places a hand over her mouth in thought, "Hold on a second." Then she jumps into one of the surrounding trees. When she comes back, she has two straight sticks in her hand, close in size to a normal katana. "There... I even tried to get them as close to the same size as I could, just to be fair."

"So we'll be fighting with sticks, as if we're two little kids."

She holds out one of the sticks, "Hey, at least neither of us will accidentally kill the other."

Inuyasha grumbles, but accepts the piece of wood.

"Ok Inuyasha, there's really only one rule to follow, step out of the clearing and you lose. And make sure you fight me as if this was a real fight, I want the practice. Just keep in mind that if you hit too hard, these sticks might break in pieces."

"Ok. Whatever."

"Just don't say I didn't warn you." Talgi smiles at her echoing of Inuyasha from a few days before, and that's when Inuyasha rushes forward for an attack. At first he's aiming high, but just as he's gotten closer, he aims to thwack her in the knees. She blocks it. He looks up to her grinning face, 'So she does know how to fight...'

After that slight pause, he tries to make a quick strike to the side of her head, but she blocks again. Then he slowly starts to force her back. The hits aren't fast paced; they're just hard enough to shake Talgi to her core. She can't concentrate on attacking; she's having enough trouble just blocking. Soon he would push her out of the clearing, but she kept her steps small, it would take some time. So to speed things up, he takes another swing at her head, hoping to make her jump back. Instead she drops to the ground, just before the edge.

He could work with this. Inuyasha holds the stick with one end hovering above her throat, as if it actually _was _a sword. "You want to give up now?"

Talgi was panting, and gave a worried look around the clearing. She was trying to find an escape, but it wasn't going so well. Her lip suddenly curls up in a small smirk, "Not just yet." She kicks out with both feet, one of them just manages to hit Inuyasha's leg and he lifts away the stick. Talgi takes the opportunity and scrambles up a tree, still within the perimeter of the clearing.

Inuyasha gestures angrily at her with the stick, "Now wait, I thought this was a sword fight!"

"You mean to tell me you don't fight with anything but your sword?"

"Well, uh..."

"Exactly. And I didn't even kick that hard!" Inuyasha moves a little bit back, and Talgi jumps to the ground in front of him. "Look, we'll keep to only regular punches and kicks, and nothing that would cause too much damage, alright?"

"I think I get it..." And without further warning, he cracks his stick on the right side of her neck, just where it connects to the shoulder. She topples and grabs hold of her neck.

She looks up, waiting for the sharp pain to subside, "You couldn't even let me finish?"

"No rules, remember?"

"Well I know that!" She staggers up, right hand on the stick, left on her neck. "Except for no going out of the clearing, but still...!"

"My strength too much to handle?"

"You may be stronger, but I probably can use what I have a lot better."

"And what do you have other then a stick?"

She takes her weapon, jumps forward, and raps it against each of Inuyasha's hands a couple of times as hard as she can. The shock of it makes him drop his stick but he quickly retrieves it and jumps back. "I can be fast."

The two stare at each other, Talgi's still holding on to her neck. She releases it, and both her and Inuyasha jump forward to attack.

After about an hour of the fast-paced normalcy of attack, block, and being smacked with a stick, the half-demons break apart. Both are heavily panting from exertion, and both are covered in very large and angry red marks.

Talgi grins tiredly at Inuyasha. "Are… are you ready… to give up, Inuyasha?"

"Not just yet!"

"Ah… well I am." She drops the stick at her feet, and walks right past Inuyasha.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Heading back to camp, what's it look like I'm doing?"

"No ones lost yet, so this fight isn't finished!"

She slowly steps out of the clearing and looks back to him from the path. "There! Now you win."

"But…"

"Inuyasha, I'm tired of being beat with a stick. I haven't even been able to attack for the last couple of minutes! I just wanted to practice, I used to have lessons regularly but… that was a while ago. I just wanted to bring back what I had learned That's why I asked for your help, and it did help. And now I'm exhausted. You'd have won anyway, but I still have some fight left and it would just take up time. If you really want, you can stay here and practice. But I'm done."

Inuyasha carefully looks at the stick in his hands, and then drops it. "Fine. You want to quit, go ahead and quit."

"It sounded good to me." Talgi smiles and they both make their way back to camp.

* * *

Kagome was the first one to notice their return. She had glanced at the path Talgi and Inuyasha had left on every few minutes, worried. Had they been attacked? What if they met up with Naraku? When she saw them a little ways off, she was joyful. But when they had gotten closer, and she could see the marks… "What happened to you guys?" 

The others suddenly lift their heads up. Shippo's face turns to one of extreme worry, while Miroku and Sango just look shocked.

Sango stands up, and takes a closer look at some of the markings on Talgi. "Are you ok? You two look like you've been attacked!"

Suddenly Miroku's look drops and he frowns. "Let me guess Inuyasha. Something Talgi did when she went to fetch you, angered you, and you wanted to get back at her, right?"

"No he didn't I… err…" Talgi's statement hangs in the air. She didn't know if Inuyasha wanted the others to know, or not.

"She asked me to help her practice fighting."

Finally Kagome seems to find her voice. "Practice fighting? Why?"

"Yeah, practice _sword_ fighting. That's why we're covered in these marks, from the sticks we used instead of swords." He sits down next to Kagome. "And you'd have to ask her why."

Kagome turns to look at Talgi, and Talgi grins back at her. "A couple days ago, everyone was warning me that we'd fight demons. It's been a while since my sword skills have been put to use. That's why."

"But why didn't you tell us anything?"

"Because if Inuyasha lost, he didn't want anyone to know about it."

"I did not!"

Talgi grins, and sits down between him and Shippo. "I know. But the reason you gave _me_, didn't make as much sense as mine."

"I didn't want you guys to distract me. With all of you there, it'd be a performance, and not training."

"Well that makes sense…" Sango's attention turns to Miroku. "Why did you think Inuyasha did it to get back at Talgi?"

"Well… knowing his temper, it's the first thing that came to my mind. My apologies Inuyasha…"

"I'll show _you _temper, Monk…" He starts to stand up, but Kagome sticks at a hand and puts it on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Inuyasha, you didn't tell us who won."

"Uh…"

"He did."

"Only because you got tired and started to head back to camp!"

"I was losing anyway!"

"There was still a chance!"

"No there wasn't!"

"Yes there was!"

They both stand up, teeth gritted, and look ready to fight. Talgi tries to resist against a grin, but she can't, and ends up on the ground. Laughing.

"What the hxxx you doing that for?"

"I can't… help it! We're both exhausted… and you _still _want to fight!"

"That's because you left the clearing!"

Kagome had been sitting, a little confused by their fighting, but now she was smiling. "I get it, you feel like she let you win!"

"I could have beat her without her having to give up!"

Talgi's laughing fit has finally calmed down. "Really, I didn't let you win! Much more fighting, and I wouldn't be able to walk back here without help. And I probably wouldn't be able to help tell everyone that you didn't just beat me up, that I had asked for your help."

"You're half demon, you couldn't have been that tired!"

"I haven't had a chance to practice lately, so actually I was. But if we fight again, I'll be able to do better. Then you might have a challenge you can't handle!"

"Feh…"

"See Inuyasha? She didn't just let you win." Kagome yawns and rubs at her eye. "It's really getting late guys, we should get to sleep." Everyone moves out, and tries to find decent places to get some shut-eye.

Talgi moves away from the fire to a cooler spot. She lies down, and stretches out. Shippo is right there, and leans against her side. He had been quiet while listening to all the facts, but now he let's out a noisy yawn. "Talgi, are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, all the red marks are going away. I'm fine. They don't even hurt anymore, so you don't need to worry."

"That's good." He yawns again and snuggles closer, "Goodnight Talgi."

"Night Shippo." He was asleep before he even heard her.

* * *

BC: (Drops Cricket 13 onto a table) 

Cricket 13: Boss, really! I can explain...

BC: How?

Cricket 13: With a lot of groveling and begging of forgiveness, I think...

BC: No... I mean, how did you get them in my Maze of Doom?

Cricket 13: I... told them that there was something down there that you wanted to show them.

BC: Really...? that was a pretty good plan.

Cricket 13: It was?

BC: Yeah, wish I could have been part of it. Oh well, maybe you can help me with something...

PLP: (Pounds on the door) BC! Remember that you're supposed to be punishing 13! And it better be good!

BC: Oh, right. I almost forgot... no butterscotch syrup for the next two months and your candy supply is rationed.

Cricket 13: Noooooooooooo…

BC: (Sitting at the table, bored) You done yet?

Cricket 13: Yeah, I think so.

BC: Good. Now for the reviewer responses. Sorry this took so long by the way, I was distracted by Summer Va-ca-tion. Don't forget to review!

* * *

_QJP: _I don't _care _if there's not much to say, say it! I have to have something more then half-responses to run on, don't I? 

_PLP:_ OK, Daniel Jackson. And thank you for the good update bit, unlike _some _people. Ah! Just kidding QJP! No hurty with the pursy!

BC, over and out.


	15. Troubles and lessons go hand in hand

Love of Friends

Chapter 15: Troubles and lessons go hand-in-hand

BC: Yo! This chapter is gonna be shorter then I planned it, but because of my in-activity, I have to get _something _posted! That doesn't mean it will be short though! Before I get to it, I'm going to tell you about an inu-fic idea I've had, just for a little feedback. See, the good guys are fruit, the bad vegetables. I guess that would make Sesshoumaru a tomato, cause you don't know what he really is...

QJP: Oh no you don't!

BC: What?

PLP: It's already taken you long enough to post, and we already know about that crazy idea, just get to the chapter!

BC: I'm not saying it's not crazy, and I know you guys are excited, but still...

QJP: You did it for Talgi's entrance, so do it now too! We _know _you're excited about it...

PLP: Besides, you've given us so many spoilers, we want to read it _now_!

BC: Umm...

Baka-chan: Just do it. It will get them to stop yelling at you... hopefully.

BC: Ah... but... Fine! I was just asking them real quick, I wasn't going to drag it out. I don't own Inuyasha, but I own the butterscotch syrup supply. And Cricket 13 gets a raise. (Rolls can of butterscotch syrup into next room to Cricket 13) So there. Enjoying reading!

PLP: Wait! You can't do that! He's rationed!

BC:Rationsdonotpertaintoraises,promotions,giveaways,gifts,orotherbonuses. Intheoccurrenceofonesucheventduringacricket'sration,whichcanbeaspontaneousgesturefromthe Boss (i.e. me) atanypointintime,orasetoccurrenceplannedinadvance,therationbecomesnullandvoidforthebonus,andonlyincludingsaidbonus.

((If you are lazy like me, and don't want to figure that out, it says: "Rations do not pertain to raises, promotions, giveaways, gifts, or other bonuses. In the occurrence of one such event during a cricket's ration, which can be a spontaneous gesture from the Boss (i.e. me) at any point in time, or a set occurrence planned in advance, the ration becomes null and void for the bonus, and only including said bonus."))

QJP: (Whispering) What did she just say?

PLP: (Whispering back) I don't know. It sounded like gibberish to me. All I know is that she must be punished.

BC: (Isn't listening) It's in their contracts. (Grins) Though if you had just let me continue on my merry little way, the ration would have continued as normal. But you didn't, so see ya! (Runs before ramblings can be translated by the purse-wielders)

X

Late the next morning, Talgi finally begins to wake after hearing her own name pop up in Inuyasha and Kagome's fireside conversation. But even though she's awake, she still keeps her eyes shut tightly. That way, If it was nothing worth listening to, it'd be easier to go back to sleep without the sun directly in her face.

"I don't get it. How the hxxx does she sleep so long? I'm a half-demon, and I don't need that much sleep. I mean, she sleeps more then a human!"

Kagome let's out a yawn from Inuyasha's general direction. It sounded like she hadn't been awake too long herself. "So what if she's not on your schedule? Before she joined up with us, she was trying to find us. And before that, who knows? Talgi's used to her own sleep patterns. And just so you know Inuyasha, some people actually enjoy their sleep. They don't want to spend the whole night worrying themselves to the point that they can't."

"Hey! If _you_ want to be killed in the middle of the night by demons, I'll stop. Don't get made at _me _when I'm just trying to keep you humans alive!"

Talgi moves her head to the side, hoping to see what was going on better. She's just about to open her eyes, but stops. It seemed Kagome had seen her move, but thought it was due to Inuyasha big mouth.

"Inuyasha, stop it. You're getting too loud," whispers Kagome. "Soon you're going to wake her and Shippo up! It's a good thing Miroku and Sango already left to go look for a path. Otherwise you'd have woken them too."

Was it really that late that everyone was up but them? Looks like Talgi _wasn't _going back to sleep. So she yawns and stretches out her arms, pretending she had been asleep. "What's going on?"

"Oh... just making breakfast. There's nothing to worry about." Kagome glares and whispers to Inuyasha, "Nice going."

"Feh."

Soon, Talgi begins to realize a slight weight sitting on her chest. Blurredly she opens an eye and sees a large puff of light fur, and orange hair. "Shippo... it's time to wake up." Talgi pokes him in the arm a couple of time, but he doesn't move. Then she starts to shake him, "Come on Shippo..."

The young fox demon blinks his eyes a few times and smiles back at her sleepily. "Good morning."

"Good morning... You know, we're the only ones that are still sleeping. Do you think you can get off me now, so I can get up? I'm really starting to get hungry."

He sits up onto Talgi's stomach and stretches, "Maybe in a couple of minutes..."

"In a couple of...?" Talgi grabs hold of Shippo by the tail and jumps up to her feet, a forced frown on her face. "What do you mean by a couple of minutes?"

Shippo laughs, and covers up his mouth. "Oh, so you think I'm being funny?" She holds him under her arm with a big grin on her face, and walks closer to the fire. Shippo pretends to struggle.

"Help me, Kagome! Inuyasha! Somebody!"

Kagome quickly turns to the fire, trying her best to hold back a laugh. "I'm sorry Shippo. There's nothing I can do..."

Inuyasha smirks at him, "Don't look at me. You got yourself into this one. This is between you two."

"Good! That means no interference. Now, what to do with you..." Talgi smiles as an idea comes to her, "Hey! Do you think you'd make me a good breakfast?"

"No!"

"Huh... then what can I do?"

Kagome coughs back another laugh, "You wouldn't want to eat him anyway. Like I said, I'm making breakfast and I'm almost done cooking."

"Oh, right. And I bet that would taste better, too. I guess you get off easy. Ok, I won't eat you!" Talgi sets Shippo down. He's giggling harder, and still trying to hide it. He's just about ready to go sit by the fire, when Talgi leans down next to him with an evil grin on her face. "At least... not for breakfast." She then pounces at him, but misses. And soon she's chasing Shippo around the campsite, careful to avoid the fire, Kagome, and Inuyasha.

Miroku and Sango choose this moment to enter the camp. They were calmly talking to one another, but stop after taking a quick look around. It became quite apparent that things were not as sane here as when they had left them.

"Did we miss something?" Cautiously asks Miroku.

Instantly, Shippo and Talgi stop their follies in it's tracks. Talgi grins at them, "Not really. We were just waiting for you guys to get back! Did you find another path?"

"Wait a second!" interrupts Inuyasha, "How did _you_ know that they had left to find a path?"

Kagome sighs, "Because you probably woke her up! So..." She turns her attention to Miroku and Sango. "Did you find a new path?"

"It took a while… but we managed." Carefully, Sango bends down and sets Kilala on the ground. She scratches the top of her head, and Kilala meows back to her.

"What took you so long, anyway?"

"It's simple Inuyasha. We had some trouble finding a village to travel through. Though we would have been here sooner if not for..."

"Miroku, you can't really blame Kilala for dragging us to that river. _You _were the one that insisted we leave before breakfast." Sango sets her hand on her stomach with a slight frown on her face. "Those fish were starting to look good even to me, but I knew Kagome had food for us back here." Her face gets a dark shadow over it as she glares at Miroku. "Though I suppose it was good we left so early, not so many of the village girls were out when we were there."

Miroku sighs, "Yes, I know. And I was so disappointed, too..."

Sango's glare instantly intensifies. She stalks past him, and grabs some water containers by Kagome's backpack. From one moment to another, Sango's demeanor had turned icey. "I'm going to go to the nearest river and get some water. Please try and save me some breakfast Kagome."

"Sure... of course Sango."

Once again, Sango stomps past Miroku; she refused to look at him. After going a little way, she calls to her demon companion. "Kilala, you should come with me. It will make the river easier to find."

With a meow, Kilala bounds after her partner. Side by side, they walk out of the camp. Revealing more then a little sadness in his face, Miroku watches as Sango leaves. He was holding his weight up with his staff. Sometimes... he hated to say such things to her. It wasn't that he wanted to make her hate him. He just couldn't think of anything else. Hating him... had to be a better alternative to breaking her heart. Hating him was for the best... her best. Even if it went against how he felt. Even if, it wasn't the best for him...

"Are you all right Miroku?"

Kagome's voice had shaken him out of his thoughts. He blushes slightly as he turns to look at her; he hadn't realized just how intently he had been staring after Sango. "Yes, of course I am!" He chances a small glance over his shoulder to where Sango had left, and Kagome smiles.

"Troubles of the heart, Miroku?"

"Yes... Um, I mean no! I was just… err, I was just... thinking about all the girls that I missed in that village! Hopefully I'll be able to meet a few more of them when we pass through there later on."

"I see..." Kagome winks, "Don't worry, I won't tell Sango the truth. She wouldn't believe me anyway."

Miroku clears his throat, and tries to make his way to the fire without further proving he had faltered. A difficult task, considering he was being closely flanked by a snickering Talgi and a wildly grinning Shippo.

"Ooh! Well… and I guess _that_ answers Miroku's side of my question." Talgi grins, she was only trying to hide this comment from Kagome. She had purposely made sure Miroku could hear it.

But in reality, it didn't matter if Kagome heard her or not. Right now she was far too preoccupied about the food. She pauses her task for a moment as a thought comes to her mind, "You know Shippo... later on, I think it might be good to have that little writing lesson we talked about."

"But Kagome, I can write a lot of stuff… and read it too!" These words came out more sudden then he intended, but he couldn't help it with the confused stare that Talgi was giving him.

"Calm down Shippo. I know you can. It's just, with all the traveling we do, I want to give you a chance to ask questions and practice your skills. It's just like... honing your fighting skills. It's important so that I don't have to worry if you disappear for a while. That is, if you can't just tell me where you're going. Besides, it's probably good to know how to write out 'bathroom'. Then we won't have to go through the same problem as last time."

Shippo hangs his head, looking more like he was being punished then getting a little help. Suddenly, Talgi smiles; she knew what Kagome was talking about now. A moment ago, she had been confused about Kagome's sudden decision to help Shippo write. She would still _be_ confused if Shippo hadn't told his story, in detail, about when he first noticed the feelings between Inuyasha & Kagome and Miroku & Sango. "A little practice never hurt anyone. It'll be good for you. In fact… you mind if I do it too Kagome? It's been a long time since I last had a brush in my hand. I really could use the practice."

"Oh... of course Talgi!" She smiles widely, and why not? Kagome had always liked to write, and she didn't mind helping others, as long as it wasn't anything too hard... like math. This was her chance to see just what she could do. And maybe if she was really lucky, she'd be able to gather a few more pupils from their group of six.

X

Eventually, Sango returns. And soon after that, they all head out on their way. As they pass back through the village Miroku and Sango had found, Miroku tries to spot any beautiful woman that happen to be about. All he sees though, are old women, and a fair amount of glaring men. On occasion, a giggle would rise out from one of the villager's homes. But before Miroku could investigate, there was always an angry looking villager in the doorway.

Kagome looks around in wonder, "Sango, you didn't cause this... did you?"

"It's entirely possible..."

"What did you _say _to them?"

"Well, I thought it only fair to warn them about the monk."

"With _these _looks, you must have made him out into some women-hungry demon!"

Sango gives Kagome a pointed stare, "You say that like he's not."

So the trip through the village was short, and fast. At the end of it all, Miroku was almost in tears from the disappointment. Sango on the other hand, looked quite pleased with herself.

X

Some ways down the path, Inuyasha finally consents to a rest. Shippo and Talgi sit in front of Kagome looking attentive while resting in the shade. Inuyasha watches cautiously from a nearby tree as Kagome digs through her bag and takes out some pads of paper and some pens. Down the path a little more, Miroku and Sango are sitting side by side at two separate trees. She looks back over her shoulder to them. "Are you sure you don't want to join us too?"

Miroku smiles. "I'm positive Kagome. I as a monk, needed to learn how to write for various reasons... only one of them being for scrolls I might remind you. It's a talent that also comes in handy for talismans. And as for Sango..." He turns slightly to his left to get a better look at the demon slayer. She appeared to be dozing serenely. "It is a basic lesson that they would have made sure to teach her in the demon-slayer's village."

"All right Miroku... are you really sure?"

Miroku didn't really answer Kagome. He just nodded his head, only half paying attention. He still had his eyes on Sango. Very softly, he calls her name, trying to see if she was still awake. "Sango..." And then a little louder. "Sango?" Silently, he leans forward and looks around. He was trying to find Kilala. She was behind their trees, looking comfortably asleep in the sunlight.

Slowly, he reaches out his hand to Sango. He was planning to move some of the hair out of her face. Sango was asleep, she wouldn't even know it. He had still kept his hand low though, about the height of her elbows. And as he gets a little closer, he notices a sudden flicker of movement around her eyes. He couldn't tell what it was, so he sets down his hand and leans towards her face slightly. Suddenly, there's a finger pressed against his nose.

"That's close enough Miroku."

For a moment, his mouth wouldn't work. But he regained the ability soon enough. "Sango! Well... you've gotten very good if you could sense my presence with your eyes closed. And I thought you were asleep!"

"I _was_ asleep. But how good my "abilities," are, doesn't really matter when I get hit in the face with a branch."

Apparently, the confused expression on his face led Sango to believe he had no idea what she was talking about. (Which was very true.) So she points to bring his attention elsewhere. Connected to Sango's tree was a springy branch. He didn't know if Sango had purposely set it up so it would hit her, or if it was by accident. Either way, it had given her a forewarning he hadn't planned on.

"What were you doing anyway?"

"Um..." Quickly he looks down by his hands. Nearby the bottom of her tree, there were some small purple flowers. He plucks one and shows it too her. "I saw this, and it reminded me of a herb I had seen. Probably from Kagome..." He turns the other way, and holds the flower out towards Kagome. His teeth were gritted in a forced smile. "Do you recognize it?"

She hadn't expected him to want her to lie. Kagome's answer fumbles slightly on her tongue. "No, but uh... I can't really see it from here. The... color looks familiar though..." That sounded really lame. But, maybe it would keep Sango at bay?

Miroku's face falls though. There was no way Sango would fall for that lie. She was going to want a better explanation. But he couldn't think of one... and wouldn't. He wasn't going to do this anymore. He was going to tell Sango how he felt, and his reasoning for not acting on it. Maybe the shock of it all would stop her from trying to kill him long enough that he could get away from right next to her. Miroku had just turned back to Sango and had his mouth open, resigned to tell her everything, when he's interrupted.

"Now see... _this _is one of the reasons I'm glad to be half demon!"

What was Talgi doing? Was she making a diversion? He wasn't about to run, not now, not yet. But he does turn to look at her, Sango too.

"Kagome, I don't know how you humans can live without seeing clearly! You should know what that plant is!"

"You mean... you know about this plant?" Miroku looked as if the skies had opened, and Buddha himself had decided to intervene.

Talgi lifts her head sharply, a look on her face that says 'you don't?'. "Yeah, I know it. It helps with fever."

"Fever..." Sango still wasn't buying it. "Oh really? Then why didn't Kagome recognize it?"

Talgi shrugs her shoulder. "It's not a common remedy. That small plant is strong, and will knock a fever out of anyone almost instantly. Problem is that it sometimes puts people in a deep sleep. And before they wake up, they're already dead. They only even try it when there's no other hope."

Miroku quickly looks at the plant in his hand, and lets it fall to the ground. He didn't know anything about it, had never really even noticed it before. But Talgi gave the impression of being at least a little knowledgeable about it. And right now, he couldn't tell if she was lying... or telling the truth. Also, that small gesture made it seem to himself, at least, more believable. Who would really want to hold such a harbinger of death?

Sango was a little shocked. Talgi seemed to have so many answers... well she wasn't going to slow the uptake of her final question any longer. She wasn't going to give her anymore time to think of a lie. "How do you know what it does? You don't seem to know a lot about herbs."

"When I was still looking for all of you, I walked into a small village during a transformation night. I was trying to go by quickly, but I heard a lot of commotion and groaning. I followed some other villagers, and they led me to an old man that had collapsed in the path. He was yelling to an old woman that he was fine, not sick at all. And then he started to gasp for air. The old woman ran off for a little bit, and came back with some of those flowers. She put them in his mouth, and made him swallow. He screamed... and suddenly went silent. The old woman started crying. I couldn't understand why, he was still breathing, I could see his chest moving. One of the others told me that after sleep, came death. They were starting to move him, and I decided to leave. It was going to turn day soon, and if I suddenly went back to normal, they probably would have tried to blame me for it all. It was a pretty bad situation to be in."

After a few tense moments of not knowing if Sango believed or not, Miroku finally relaxes and leans back on his tree when she asks no more. "I thought I recognized it." He pretends to stifle a yawn. "Well, I do believe I could nap for a little while. Could someone please wake me when we leave?"

After what just happened, feigning sleep might be his only escape. It would be impossible to actually fall asleep though, but it would hopefully be enough of a guise to stop Sango from trying to say any more. Miroku turns his head back to the others, closes his eyes, and slows his breathing. He had some trouble though, he _still_ couldn't believe what he had been so close to revealing to Sango. His heart was pounding in his chest, it almost felt like it would break through. But he made sure not to move. He could feel her eyes still watching him.

And for a while, Sango was. And then she leans back and looks up at the branches above. Miroku had been about to say something. And, he had looked so... nervous. It was interesting to see him like that. It didn't happen often. He always tried to be so calm. She had seen relief on his face when he dropped the flower. She didn't believe Miroku, not for a second. But she couldn't be entirely sure Talgi was lying. Carefully, Sango reaches down and grabs hold of the small, abandoned flower, and brings it up to her face. She smiles at it. Sango was more inclined to believe it was just an ordinary plant, but she wasn't going to force Kagome and Talgi to tell her why they went along with the lie. At least not now. With extreme care, she places it in a safe spot admist her slayer armor and returns to her thoughts.

All through the little discussion, Kagome had unknowingly kept an eye on Miroku and Sango. And now she was pretty satisfied with what had just happened. She turns back to the others, and smiles as she whispers a question. "Talgi... how much of that was true?"

"Not a word of it."

"I thought so..."

Inuyasha was hunched on a tree branch, listening to what they were saying. "Just like a fox... why the hxxx would you even do something like that?"

Talgi glances up to Inuyasha, and grins. "For the stomp."

"Stomp? What stomp?" Kagome was completely lost in the conversation, but apparently that didn't matter much.

"Don't worry about it. Inuyasha knows what I'm talking about."

Yeah, he knew what she was talking about. 'Rather then fighting that idiot monk, she decided to save his axx from Sango. That's not even fair... she fought back, against me.' "Feh."

"Um..." Kagome slowly shakes her head, "Whatever. It still doesn't make sense to me... Wait a minute Inuyasha!"

Her excited change of subject brings Inuyasha out of the sullenness he was preparing to enter. "What is it now?"

"You should practice some writing too!"

"Dxxx it wench! Of course I know how to write! I don't need you teaching me anything! I'm not stupid, and I don't need help!"

Shippo jumps up and runs over to the tree, "What? Ok Inuyasha... let's see you write then!"

"I'm not going to go to your level and accept some stupid challenge!"

"My... level...?" Shippo was seething now, but Talgi was trying to calm him down and help Kagome quickly pacify things.

"Shippo... he may act stupid but he's still bigger then you. You may get away with things sometimes, but it will just add fuel to the next time he manages to get you in a big fight!"

"He's saying you're stupid too, you know!"

"Wha..." Realization creeps across her face and she scowls, "I'm gonna kill him!" Talgi starts to clamber up the tree, but Shippo's grabbed hold of her ankle so it's slow going.

"Wait Talgi! Stop!"

Inuyasha jumps up another branch, "What the hxxx? I didn't call either of you two stupid, I just said _I_ wasn't!"

Kagome stands right beside Talgi and grabs her shoulder, "Stop Talgi... he's not trying to insult anyone!"

She slips down back to her feet and looks up to Inuyasha. "One of the days Inuyasha... you're going to pxxx off the wrong person, at the wrong time and they'll kick your axx for not making yourself clear!" After this outburst, Kagome and Shippo finally manage to get Talgi back to her seat on the ground and start getting her calmed down. Sango and Miroku had been ready to jump up and intervene, but everything was fine now. They turn to look at each other, and silently decide they're still not going to discuss anything. So they lean back and continue ignoring their situation.

"Are you okay now Talgi? Is something wrong?" Asks Shippo worriedly.

Talgi was holding her head is if it hurt, but there was no pain on her face. It was completely blank, and then changes to small, reassuring smile. "No, nothings wrong. I'm fine."

She's met with disbelieving looks from Shippo, Inuyasha, and Kagome.

"Really." She was still smiling, but looked somewhat troubled as well.

Inuyasha mutters quietly to himself as he returns to the previous branch. "Dxxx fox tempers..."

Kagome unsurely passes Talgi and Shippo a pad of paper and a pen each, and then stands up to hand Inuyasha some as well. "Inuyasha, I'm sure you can write. But just do it please?" He grumbles, but accepts.

"Hey Kagome, what are these things?" Talgi takes the cap of the pen off and sniffs, "It smells like ink."

"It's a bit handier then a brush and ink, but does the same thing. You just write with it how you normally would."

"Oh!"

And so the lesson begins. The first thing Kagome did, was show Shippo how to write bathroom. Then she had to wade through questions that Shippo and Talgi shot at her. Like why call it a bath_room _while in the middle of a forest. Or what the bath part had to do with anything, when no one was bathing. Rather then try and explain it, she simply answers that it's what it's called in her time.

Then she has to deal with Talgi asking what she meant by 'her time'. Apparently Shippo had told her some things, but hadn't made it very clear. He tries to explain again that Kagome was from "The present." Talgi asks back, "Isn't now the present?" and Shippo replies, "Not for her, it's the past."

Kagome knew that Shippo was just trying to help, but even she was becoming confused. So she tells Talgi she's from another time and explains that how she can get here had to do with the Shikon jewel, and leaves it at that. They finally get back on track, and restart the lesson.

It doesn't take long for Shippo to realize the unfairness of Inuyasha being up a tree. While he and Talgi occasionally got the pads of paper looked at, Inuyasha didn't. Not that Kagome hadn't tried. She had asked to take a look, but Inuyasha clutched at the pad and said, "You asked me to join, not to show you what I wrote. So I am!" and had to agree with him. She had the feeling there might have been some words that he didn't know, or he was afraid his penmanship was too sloppy and he didn't want to hear any comment. Shippo though, was adamant that he just wasn't writing, and said as much a number of times.

Kagome was just informing Shippo that one of the tails on a character he had written was going in the wrong direction when she's interrupted by Inuyasha. "Hey Kagome, how do you write your name?"

"My name...? Why do you need to know that?"

"For... a letter in case you run back to your time and I can't tell you to get more Ramen." He stares at his pad of paper for a moment. "Something like... 'Kagome, I love that Ramen stuff. Make sure you have a lot.' And I need to know how to write Ramen too."

"Oh. Sure thing Inuyasha." Kagome's just put her pen to paper, when Talgi suddenly laughs.

"It sounds more like he's trying to write 'I love you Kagome', up there." As soon as the words are out, Talgi clamps her lips tight, and puts her hand over her mouth. She meant to say that softer, but now she was sure that even Sango and Miroku had heard her...

Inuyasha jumps down from his perch, and stalks over to Talgi. "_And what's it to you if I am_!" He growls at her.

Sango and Miroku slowly stand up from their spots. Talgi's mouth moves but she can't get any words to come out, even Shippo's stunned. Walking as fast as possible, Sango makes her way to Kagome. Her breath was caught in her throat, and the pen in her hand was starting to shake from the pressure she held it with. "Kagome...? Just breath..."

The implications of what Inuyasha had said didn't even seem to faze him though, but he did notice everyone else acting strange.

"I... _Inuyasha_?"

He turns back to Miroku. What was wrong with everybody? "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Because of... what you just _said_."

"What I just said...?" Suddenly the realization hits him, "Oh sxxx..." He had just sputtered something in anger that could be taken another way. A way he hadn't even fully confirmed with himself. It just... came out like that. He chances a look towards Kagome, Sango still trying bring her to her senses. Her eyes were wide, she almost looked frightened.

"Kagome, listen to me. Calm down."

'Is she scared of me?' He reaches out his hand slightly, he wanted to talk to her. To explain... but he didn't think he'd be able to. He lowers his hand once again.

'I'm sorry Kagome.'

Quickly Inuyasha turns away, he needed to get out of there and _now_. He'd go down this path for a ways and stop somewhere so he could think for a while. But that alone wouldn't stop the others; he had to plan something to distract and keep them busy.

His plan thought out, he makes his way over to Miroku. But the monk was trying to calm him down and stop him. "Wait Inuyasha, what you said wasn't _so _bad..."

"Get outta my way Miroku!"

He refuses, and instead opts to stand right in his path with his arms stretched out to the sides. "What's done is done. And right now, you and Kagome need to talk. You should not run from this problem."

Inuyasha then pulls his sword out of its sheath, and points it at the persistent monk. "I said move."

Miroku takes a step back. Inuyasha couldn't really be willing to fight for passage, could he? Of course he was angry, that was how he reacted to everything, but this was extreme even for him. All he could do, was hope the hanyou was bluffing, and smiles at him nervously. "Inuyasha, I'm your friend! There's no need to fight me!"

For now, Sango forgets about Kagome. She was more concerned about the ill-favored turn of events taking place behind her. As she stands and turns back, Sango notices Inuyasha crouch slightly. She could see what was happening; he was getting ready to attack Miroku! Before she can give any warning, Inuyasha lunges forward and swings his blade in a wide, horizontal slash. Her view is mostly obscured by the attacking half-demon, and the speed of the assault doesn't help matters much. All she can see, is Miroku collapsing to the ground. Her face quickly changes to a look of complete horror, "_Miroku_!" She was too stunned to move, and almost to breath. This just couldn't be happening. But it was... and Sango didn't know what to do.

X

BC: (Looking at computer screen) What the...?

QJP/PLP: (Walk into room)

PLP: BC, there you are! What's the point of punishing Cricket 13 if you can just give him a bonus anytime you want?

QJP: And what was with that cliffy you ended the chapter with? What happened to Miroku?

BC: (Holds out one finger right between PLP and QJP, while scrolling with other hand) One complaint at a time please...

PLP: (Bites finger)

BC: (Jumps up out of seat, and grabs sore finger) PLP! I was going to listen in a second!

PLP: But your finger was still in front of my face!

QJP: (Sits at computer) What are you looking at so intently anyway?

BC: A review but...

QJP: Kagome hater?

PLP: WHAT? (Rushes to computer and reads over QJP's shoulder)

BC: While they're doing that, let's just get to reviewer responses...

X

_QJP_: (Joins happy dance. Gets dizzy. Falls on butt.) Uhh... Anywho, you say the last chap's been my most entertaining? That's good to hear. This one though, has been one of my fluffier ones. So all my bases are covered! And there's nothing wrong with my love of Butterscotch syrup... or my love of sporks while I'm at it. Good to hear you enjoyed my latest hot spring scene, it's what... the third one? Just realized that... And yeah, you finally wrote a good review. Kidding... but don't hurt me if this update took too long, I haven't been able to write since freaking band camp. WE ARE BANDOS LOUD AND PROUD! (Gives victory-sign)

_Kagome hater_: Well ok then. Sorry, I don't know quite what you mean because not only did you not leave enough of a review, you didn't leave some way for me to clarify. If someone can tell me what kagome hater means, please, tell me. Because as far as I can tell, they're talking about Inuyasha and got him mixed up with Sango or something. I really don't know.

_PLP_: I'm glad you likey my re-write! And I hope you don't mind, I'm clumping those last reviews together. Even if you do, I'm still doing it. So I ended chap. 4 well? I guess I'll have to see what chapter that is. And I'm glad you liked 14, here's chappy15!

_inuyasharanma3_: This ones not really a reviewer response, since they didn't leave a review, but I noticed I was on their story alert list. I don't know if she's had me there long or not, but I still want to thank her. She's the only person to have me on their story alert! It just goes to show ya, 12 year olds deserve much more credit then they are usually given. So... you rock! (Shoots fist in the air) Yeah!

X

P.S.

Sorry for the long wait. I sorta got stuck for a while. I do that every so often. At least I try to work through it though, because I rather like this story. It's got more reviews then everything else I've done, put together. So please have patience for the pits I occasionally fall into. Not to mention I've been busy. But, do not worry… I shall prevail!

BC, over and out.


	16. Sappy Tree Friends

Love of Friends

Chapter 16: Sappy Tree Friends

* * *

BlackCat: (Hands clasped, ears drooping) I'm sorry everyone. I was frazzled by school... I know it's no excuse. And now it's August, and I decide to try and write more. I'm just sorry... and to any former readers that read this... thank you for the second chance. Also, I know chappie 15 needs major revamping. Once this chappie is done, I'll repost that one. (Nods head) Thank you, everyone, I only own Talgi and the storyline. I wish I owned the others too, but for now, this is good enough. 

Queen of the Jean Purse: You really should be sorry!

Princess of the Leather Purse: Do you know how long we've been waiting?

BC: Oh! Yeah, you two should tal... no. I'm not going to do this now! I was trying to be serious!

QJP: Yeah... like that would have lasted long.

BC: Just... read please. For my sake...

* * *

There's a few more moments of Sango being so afraid, that it seemed like her heart had completely stopped beating. It starts once more when Miroku shakily stands up from the ground. 

"That... was far too close for comfort." Miroku mumbles to himself. He turns toward Sango with a weak smile upon his face. He was hoping to reassure her, but stops his endeavor far from it. What once was utter horror on Sango's face, is now relief. And it was a look of relief so strong, it almost looked like it _hurt_.

Sango had been so devastatingly worried about him; even with all he had hoped to prevent, he couldn't help but feel some bit of triumph that her concern was for him. This small joy did not last long though, it soon mutated into anger, and was aimed directly at Inuyasha. He should not have caused Sango such unneeded worry! He is about to give the hanyou a piece of his mind, but is interrupted by a warning shout from Sango.

"Miroku, the tree!" she calls.

Miroku looks up and sees the tree he had, not so very long ago, been leaning against make its way closer and closer. He tries to turn around and run, but is under the leafy branches before he can react.

"_Miroku_!!!" Sango screams out.

Talgi scrambles up from the ground, "Miroku?" she glances at Sango, unresponsive from shock. "This is _not _looking good..." and runs forward, taking her sword out of its sheath, and slices through the trunk; just bellow the limbs. She then tries to pull up at one end, laying the sword to the side, but it doesn't do her much good. The trunk was much heavier then expected.

Without another word, Inuyasha goes into a frenzy, trying to chop any trees near the path with Tetsusaiga. He lets them fall into piles on the path, getting farther away with each one. As he goes through with his crazed plan, Talgi lets go of the tree. She was only lifting it a little off the ground anyway. She looks in Inuyasha's direction, hoping to somehow convince him to help, but his sounds of havoc were coming from an area far out of sight now.

"Dxxx it! This isn't working! I could cut it in smaller pieces... but I don't know how long it will _take_,and we don't even know how Miroku is!"

"Roll it to the edge."

Talgi looks down, crouching by the tree was Sango, her palms pressed against it. "I see you got your senses back. Now we just have to work on Kagome."

Sango looks up to the half demon, there were tears in her eyes. It was a look so intense and unexpected that Talgi is slightly taken aback. "Uh... right. Rescue first, joke later." She quickly helps Sango roll the log. Once it's out of the way, Talgi grabs hold of the limbs and pulls with all her might. Dropping it off along the side of the path. Sango runs up to the huddled figure left behind. She kneels beside Miroku and shakes him slightly, unsure if he's unconscious or merely stunned. When she spots his insidious hand move near her leg, she opts for the latter, and reacts accordingly. With a well placed slap.

"Lady Sango, you misunderstand...!" Miroku was still on the ground, but messaging the red mark on his cheek with his far hand.

"Misunderstand what? You seem to say that to me quite often, yet I'm never wrong about your intentions. You can't deny your perverted nature."

"Um, Sango..."

"No Talgi. You're not going to interfere this time." and gives Talgi a very scathing look, making her step back.

"My dear Sango, Talgi is doing nothing of the like. Now, if you would just lift your leg slightly, you could continue venting in a... more comfortable fashion."

Sango shifts her eyes downward, and her demeanor changes from anger to regret. Her face was ablaze in embarrassment. She tries to rectify the situation by sitting Miroku up. She had assumed Miroku was being lecherous, though all he was trying to do was remove her knee from his robes

"Miroku, I-I..."

"There's no need to apologize to me. Given past circumstances, I understand why you would react so. Just remember next time that I have one undeserved slap against me."

"Then there's nothing to be sorry for." Once again, Miroku had put Sango in a bad mood.

"Hey, _I _tried to tell you..." Snips Talgi, finally sheathing her Binusayou. She then crouches by Miroku's other side.

"That's right... I'm sorry Talgi. I should have listened to you."

"All's forgiven." She grins, till she takes a closer look at Miroku. "Monk, did you know that you're bleeding?" and taps above her eye.

Carefully, Miroku places his finger to his head. And then winces at the pain.

"I knew a branch snapped back and hit me. But I just thought it left a welt."

"So he actually hurt you..." Unknown to Sango, Miroku, and Talgi, Kagome had come out of her stupor and brought her first aid kit. She was closely being followed by Shippo, who was looking at her with concern. Silently, she passes a bandage to Sango. She was looking very upset, and slightly depressed. "Miroku, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." She looked about ready to cry.

"You're sorry? I pushed Inuyasha into a tree-destroying frenzy. And set him off on Miroku. _You_ didn't do anything."

"Into a _what_?"

Talgi points out the downed trees, leaving Kagome awed at the destruction.

"W-what... what has gotten into him?"

Sango places the bandage on Miroku's head, "I know his life wasn't being threatened, and he still had the Tetsusaiga... but do you think that his demon blood has taken over?"

"No! Absolutely not Sango." Admonishes Miroku. "I've seen him like _that_, we all have, and this certainly wasn't the same. He had no malice, he wasn't trying to kill me. I've known him long enough to tell when his strike is for another target. And I'm sure he meant to leave me enough room to get out of the way of his blade. He's upset, yes. And extremely so. But he has not transformed."

"What are you humans talking about?"

"You've seen his sword, correct Talgi?" Questions the monk.

"Yeah... He just about took your head off with it."

"It's made from his father's fang, specifically to keep his demon blood in check."

"In check?" She queries.

Miroku nods, "His father's blood is sometimes too strong for his half-demon body. Least it is now, after his sword was broken in half. It will occasionally takes over when Tetsusaiga is out of reach, and his life is in danger. Each time it happens, it gets harder to stop. He almost completely changes to a full demon, and with it, a full-demons power. But at the loss of his judgment and humanity. Normally, he ends up almost killing someone. And it's usually one of us."

Kagome reaches her palm out to rest against the pile of trees. "But why all this?"

"That, I can't answer. But we should really clear the path of... debris. We can't just leave it here. No sane passing villager would leave the path. It's too dangerous, they'd fall prey to some demon."

Miroku tries to stand, but falls back. Luckily, Sango catches him and sits him back up. "Apparently I was hit harder then I first thought. Sango, Talgi, Shippo. If you three would start taking care of the trees while I rest a little longer, I should be able to build up enough strength to take Kagome and find Inuyasha. I should at the very least be able to escort her and stave off some of the weaker demons."

"Miroku, you can't even stand! How do you think that will help Kagome? Not only that, but you'd never be able to find Inuyasha on foot. I'll take Kilala, and fly over the piles. You should stay and rest."

"But Sango, that would only leave Talgi and Shippo to start on this diversion. You and Kilala are needed here."

"And right now, you can't protect yourself. Much less Kagome."

"That's it!" Interrupts Talgi. "I'll take her to him. This way he doesn't run too far off. I can even start on the trees at the end while you, Kilala, Shippo, and Miroku once he heals, work on the ones here. I'm not too used to carrying that much weight over such a distance, but I should be able to manage."

"Talgi, are you calling me fat? Because this isn't the time..."

"No. I'm just used to Shippo's weight more. Even I know better then to suggest something like that."

"Oh. Well really, none of you need to bother. I could just... walk alongside the path. I'll eventually find him."

"You know that's too dangerous." Sango stands, "Kagome, you don't really want to go after him. Do you?"

"What? Of course I want to... I want to..." She averts her gaze from the others. "You're right Sango. I-I don't know what to say to him!" She hugs herself in deep thought. "What _can _I say to him?"

"Kagome, Miroku's advice to Inuyasha was good. He should have talked to you, but instead he ran. But while he was still nervous, you've actually had a chance to calm down..."

"No. No I haven't. I am nowhere _near _calm."

"Well, you're at least calmer then he was. Your the one with the cool head between you two."

"See? come on. I promise I won't drop you." Talgi reaches out behind her to enforce this fact.

"...Ok." She hesitantly stands up and is about to grab on to Talgi's shoulders, but stops once she realizes her pen and a small sheet of paper are in her hands. She stows them into her pockets, and hoists herself up. Talgi stumbles slightly at the new weight, but remembers in time to hold on to Kagome's legs, and steadies herself.

"Gee, you really _are_ fat!"

"Talgi..."

"I'm joking Kagome!" Her attention turns to the others. "Shippo, make sure to keep these guys from... well, from anything. Well, I guess I'll see you three when I break through." She jumps up the the top of the pile and almost trips off.

"Talgi!" Kagome yelps.

"Sorry..." She looks gloomily over the tall pile.

"What's wrong?" Calls up Miroku.

"Let's just say you should try and recover fast."

Shippo waves, "Good luck Kagome, Talgi."

Talgi smiles from her perch. "No need to worry about me. I won't need any luck." She leaps off the pile, and starts to run to the next. "You might need it though Kagome. And it might be a good idea to take mine too."

"You know what? I changed my mind, I don't want to do this anymore."

"I'm not stopping, so if you want to jump..."

"That sounds good, if you'll just slow down..."

"Yeah, not gonna happen." says Talgi. "After setting him off, this is the least I can do." And continues over Inuyasha's obstructions.

* * *

Talgi hops over many more piles of trees and slowly, they begin to get shorter and shorter. Finally ending with one lone trunk splayed half-heartedly just by a fork in the path. She lowers Kagome, and continues to the fork alone, carefully looking at the ground. 

"Are you tracking his scent?" Tentatively asks Kagome.

"No, no. I can smell him well enough, but I already know which we he went." She looks closer to the right arm of the path. "I was just looking at his tracks. He's stopped running. Probably figured we'd never get this far." Talgi snorts in contempt as she stands. "You know, I can't believe he got so upset at such a small incident. And after that, he cuts down all those trees. I just don't get it."

"I think I might."

Quickly she looks at the human she'd been lugging around. "You do?"

"Maybe. He knew we wouldn't just leave the path blocked. We've helped out too many people to just suddenly decide we're going to stop now."

"That's a good point."

"Right. So... um, now that we know which way he went, I guess we keep going till we find him?" A fact easily seen as something she wasn't happy about..

"Actually Kagome...you're going to have to go on by yourself."

"What?! Talgi, you can't do this to me!" Says Kagome, a hint of panic working its way into her voice.

"I think you might have too. Any farther then this, and I don't think I'll be able to keep myself from spying on you two. I don't want you to have to worry about me listening in."

This was good news. If she waited, she could sneak back to camp and not have to find Inuyasha. "Oh well in that case..."

"Before you get any ideas, you should remember something. I plan to still be here, working on this mess. If only to make sure you're gone for enough time to of had a nice, decent talk with Inuyasha." And gives Kagome a heartfelt half-smile.

Now she was disappointed again. "Oh. Right, I mean... what makes you think I'd do something like that?"

"Kagome, to be blunt... you'd do just about anything right now if you could get out of talking to him. You'd probably even try to bribe me with jewel shards if you thought it would help. And besides... it's written all over your face."

"What about Ramen?"

"Kagome..." sighs Talgi. "Look. The others and I can't really make you talk this out with him. But if I have to, I will go back and get Shippo. With his transformation and my mimicking abilities..."

"I think I get it now. You don't need to do that!" Kagome was once again in a panic.

"Good. Because it was either that or getting him to ask you questions till you decided by yourself." She leans forward, eyes wide, and speaks not with her voice, but Shippo's. "Kagome, how come you and Inuyasha aren't mates ye...?"

"Gah! Talgi, stop! _Please_!? I'll go, ok?" Kagome's face was bright red in embarrassment. Slowly she trudges toward the right wing of the path. At a thought, she looks back to ask a question. "Talgi? Shippo um, wouldn't really ask something like that. Would he?"

"He might if I ask."

That puts a little more quickness in Kagome's step. Kagome pauses and looks back to Talgi. "Kagome, don't forget to tell him I'm sorry." Dumbly, Kagome nods, and the continues on her way.

Talgi waits patiently till she disappears around the bend, and then sighs in relief. "Finally. I didn't want to actually go back and get _any _of the others. All I wanted to do before, was see how Inuyasha would react. But then he had to go and blow it all out of proportion. Probably because of the whole 'stupid' thing earlier. That's the last time Shippo and I use _that _idea. At least for Inuyasha." She quickly looks around. "And now I'm left with no one but myself to talk to. Great." Deftly, she plucks her sword from it's sheath, and then proceeds to slice the one, lone, trunk in half.

* * *

Slowly Kagome walks down the path. She was exhausted, and Inuyasha was nowhere to be seen. He had been farther away then Talgi or she could ever guess. In a move of pure grace, Kagome trips over her own feet and falls to her knees. It wasn't so much the exercise, as the intense pressure her mind was putting on her that made her feel so weary. She didn't want to do this, though she knew she should try to. But it all made her feel so weak. 

Suddenly, almost like an inaudible whisper, her attention was being pulled to the side of the path. A strong sense that told her this was the way to go. It was not unlike how she could sense the jewel shards, but very different as well. This was a demonic aura, and one that belonged to Inuyasha. Though she had never been able to sense one before, it seemed she had gained the ability without her knowledge. It was really nothing more then a slight hint, but it was also the only thing she could think this feeling to be.

Kagome forces her self to her feet, after having her moment to compose herself. And though she didn't know just where he was, she'd take her chances and find Inuyasha. She takes one final, steadying breath, and plunges into the trees. Kagome walks calmly through the trunks, carefully watching her surroundings and preparing herself to scream bloody murder if a demon attacks. Luckily none try.

She makes her way past countless trees, with the help of thin trail, and breaks out from the tree cover and into a clearing which is only occupied by a few trees. One holding a familiar red clad half-demon lost in thought. "Inuyasha I've been looking for you!" She shouts as she jogs to the tree. Though this conversation was not one she wanted to have, she was still happy to of actually found him.

"K-Kagome!" He almost looks ready to smile, but just changes it to a deeper frown. "Kagome, what do you think you're doing here? Just... just..." He turns around on his tree branch, facing his back to her. "Just go away and leave me alone."

This deflates her spirits somewhat. Kagome slowly walks the last few steps and places her hand upon the tree's trunk. "Inuyasha, please." She begs, "Just listen to me." But he refuses to respond. She hangs her head in defeat and is about to plod her way back to camp when her hand brushes against an odd lump in her pocket. Kagome reaches her hand in, and pulls out the pen she had from earlier. She had forgotten she'd pocketed the item before. Quickly she reaches into her other pocket and grabs the crumpled bit of paper in it. Smoothing it out as much as possible, she places it against the tree and jots something upon it's surface. Now to get it up there.

Looking around the base of the tree, Kagome finally finds a rock large enough to suit her purpose. She places it in the center of her note and scrunches the remaining paper around it. Kagome takes a few large steps back from the tree and lets loose her projectile right at Inuyasha's head. Just before it makes contact, he catches it.

"What in the Seven Hxxxx are you thinking?" He half turns back to her. Crossing one leg over the branch as he lets the other hang to the side. He stares at the tree trunk, refusing to look at Kagome. "I told you to leave me alone! Don't you understand that?"

"Please Inuyasha, just read it!"

"Read it?"

"Yes. Read the note I just threw to you."

Carefully, Inuyasha opens the paper, letting Kagome's stone drop to the ground. He looks over one side, but it's blank, so he flips the paper over. He could see characters written on this side; but no matter which way he turns the paper, or which he turns his head, he still can't decipher the words. "Kagome, I can't read this dxxx thing."

"Can I see it then?"

Inuyasha flinches back. Kagome's voice was coming from too close for her to be where she should be. As he recoils, he moves the paper from in front of his. Kagome was sitting on his branch right on the other side. "How... When did you... What...?"

Kagome smiles to him halfheartedly. "You have been looking at it for a few minutes now. And this tree was really easy to climb." She sticks out her hand to him. "So can I see it? I'll show you what it says."

Inuyasha holds on to the paper a few more seconds before passing it to Kagome. She takes a quick look at it and groans. "No wonder you couldn't read it, I smudged the ink." She whips out her trusty pen again and writes on the other side of the paper, using her knee for support. "That should do it." She hands the paper back and points to each of the words in turn. "This one's my name... while the one over here is how you write 'Ramen'."

Inuyasha though, wasn't paying too much attention to her. "Kagome, I told you to go. Why are you still here?" He wasn't mad, he was just trying to get his question answered.

Kagome sighs and puts the pen away once again. "Because I still have some things I need to say to you."

"But..."

"Inuyasha please. This will be much easier if you don't distract me."

He reluctantly settles back to listen to her. His grumpy face showing just how happy he was.

"Right. Inuyasha, I... we all knew that what you said before wasn't how you _meant _it. It was just a shock..." She fidgets slightly. "To all of us. Even Talgi. I don't know what she was thinking, but she didn't know. She even went out of her way to help me find you and asked if I could apologize to you for her."

"She's going to be really sorry when I..."

"Inuyasha, please. Just let me get out what I have to say. Miroku got in your way, but _he _you made into a diversion. Talgi on the other hand, didn't know what she was getting into. She didn't know..." Kagome lowers her face to the ground. "About Kikyo."

'Kikyo? What does _she_ have to do with this?' And though he didn't know it at first, he did now. Kagome was _crying_.

Kagome manages to stifle the tears momentarily as Inuyasha looks on, lost. "Talgi didn't know about your feelings for Kikyo, or how embarrassing it would be for someone to suggest anything like she did about... nothing more then a copy-Kikyo. But I knew all that. And I don't want to say anything that would make things worse but, I feel like I need to explain myself. No matter if you decide to run off and join up with Kikyo or anything else I... I..." she pauses to wipe more tears from her face. "I love you, and I can't do anything to change that."

If Inuyasha was drinking something just then, he'd of done a spit-take. But all he can do is sit there, looking on dumbly from shock.

Kagome tries to diffuse the situation with a bitter laugh, but fails miserably. "That's probably the stupidest thing you've ever heard. Forget I even said anything." She takes one branch down at a time but pauses after just a few. "I'm not saying 'Don't run off to Kikyo or anything,' but _I'm_ hoping you come back for diner." Kagome reaches the ground and without looking back, scuttles off back to camp.

Inuyasha's brain though, is still in the midst of a meltdown. Incapable of any thought more complex then the tree he sits on.

* * *

BC: Well, now that the forgiveness has been dealt, I have only one thing to say. _Guess who's back, baby_! 

QJP: Forgiveness? I don't think so.

PLP: Yeah! Even if we haven't been keeping up with our fics either!

Baka-chan: Don't look at me, I've only gotten the chance to read the first couple of chapters. And I don't even remember those.

BC: Nee... don't remind me. (Not so excited anymore) But guess what readers? It's time for viewer mail... gah! I-I mean Reader responses! Yeah... (Looks around shiftily)

* * *

_QJP_: Yes, I know. Evilly cliffs of D00M. Just past 1 year later I finally post the next chap. But don't you mis it a tad? Not the marching, God no. But being able to see everyone from band. 

_The Myth Keeper_: I'm so sorry. This is no where near soon. But At least I am updating. And yeah, cliffys are evil, evil thingys. But necessary. And besides, this one was made of candy. So it's ok!

_PLP_: Thanks. But, what do you think of my long-awaited return chappy? At least, long-awaited by me...

BC, over and out... for now!


End file.
